Another Game of Chess
by WhootWhoot
Summary: A month after Rido's defeat Zero's power has gained attention in the Vampire community, the Kuran's must protect him from other Vampires who wish to possess him. Eventual KxZ.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knights, or any of its characters.

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><p>It happened that about a month after Cross Academy was laid siege by Rido, and the Kuran siblings left their schoolhome, they once again returned, with Kaname's obsequious followers (and Kain) in tow.

Zero peered out from Cross's office window at the new arrivals and allowed a faint smile to ghost across his lips; he saw Yuki's befuddled expression as she tried to retrieve some of her luggage from an overburdened Aido, who appeared to be insisting he was fine. _She hasn't changed_, Zero allowed himself to be comforted by that thought, relaxing into the windowpane. His eyes went up to meet Yagari, as his sensei joined him at the window.

"Figures, Kuran _would_ show up _after_ we clean up the mess he made," Yagari snorted to himself, as Zero's lips twitched up at his sensei's comment.

"Ohhh, come now Touga," Cross smiled coming up behind the two, "this will be good for the school. Besides, my beautiful daughter Yuki is coming back to me, I bet she missed her Papa," tears caught in Cross's eyes causing both Yagari and Zero to roll their eyes and brush past Kaien. Yagari plopped himself in a chair, as Cross began to dance around and Zero paced until they heard a knock at the door, two purebloods aura's radiating from the other side. At this Cross flung open the door, squealed and nearly tackled Yuki with an enthusiastic hug, as Kaname looked on with amusement and Yuki politely patted the back of her doting "father".

"It is so good to see you both, I am glad to have you back at the academy," Cross exclaimed escorting the two young purebloods into his office and pointing them to chairs as he took his own seat.

"I hope you don't mind that I sent the others ahead to the Moon Dorms." Kaname intoned quietly, to which Yagari snorted.

Cross assured him, "you know I don't mind, but I would be happy if you would send them to visit me later. Zero, you'll escort them of course."

Zero, leaning on the wall didn't reply, which was equivalent to acquiescing as far as the chairman was concerned. Kaname took note of this, though Zero remained as laconic as ever something had changed in Zero's aura. There was less confusion and agitation emanating from him, Zero somehow seemed, dare the pureblood think it, serene.

"Zero," Kaname called softly, causing the aforementioned to make eye contact with him, "have you fed recently?" Zero stiffened.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" Yagari roared, getting up and striding over towards Kaname, but the pureblood remained fixated on Zero.

Before anything could go down Zero's gaze returned to the window and he murmured, "no, I haven't been hungry since … Ichiru." The young hunter's eyes eased shut as he spoke, and remained so as the room collapsed into an awkward silence, during which Kaname returned his gaze to the angry hunter in front of him who gained a unique pallor to his face as he now starred at Zero, while Yuki fidgeted and looked like she was ready to leap out of her chair to coddle her dear former-semi-adopted brother.

Cross's sanguine voice eventually broke the silence, "so Kaname-kun, what brings you and my wonderful daughter back to campus? Don't tell me Yuki darling that you returned because you miss me and Zero-rin so much?"

While Yuki blushed at the chairman's comment Kaname was quick to respond, lest Kaien embarrass his dear sister any further. "It has come to my attention that you have received applications from numerous new noble families, even several purebloods as of recent, and Takuma has informed that you plan to accept them."

At this comment Zero's eyes shot open and he turned a bewildered look towards Kaien. Yagari on the other had managed to muster in his one eye, such ferocity that he put every other two-eyed hunter's glower to shame. To Cross's credit, his voice only wavered mildly as he muttered, "I was going to tell you about it soon, but the timing never seemed right and I didn't want to be a bother."

"A bother?" Yagari howled. "When were you planning on telling us? When they arrived?" Cross took on a slightly defensive pout, but didn't refute the accusation.

"There goes my extra sleep," Zero muttered from his spot on the wall and Kaien sent him a look of slight apology.

"Your position as the only prefect will only be for a short while Zero," Kaien commented, "I am hoping to get three new transfer students of hunter children around your age, that way there can be shifts of two, and it won't be as draining as when it was just you and Yuki."

"Thanks."

Zero's simple show of gratitude hit Kaname like a ton of bricks, this was not the Zero he knew. The Zero he knew was stubborn, angry, and never accepted anything given to him graciously, so raising from where he sat, Kaname strode over to Zero, Yuki promptly getting up to trail him. Zero simply eyed Kaname with bemusement, only when Kaname continued to stare did he inquire "Yes, can I help you?"

There it was, proof that something was wrong, this was not Zero, or at least the Zero he knew from before. In Zero's divine lavender eyes, there was something new, it looked similar to an odd breed of confidence, self assurance, that had never been there before, and to Kaname, it was mesmerizing. "What happened to you, Kiryuu?" the words escaped his lips in a whispered question he hadn't intended to ask.

Zero simply looked down at Yuki, clinging to her brother's arm with a similar curiosity in her eyes, though she had known of the goodness in Zero's heart, more so than her brother at least, she too could see that something had changed in her dear Zero. Something she had seen planted in him upon her departure a month prior, had grown in her absence, and was now beginning to blossom beautifully in the exquisite young man before her. Zero allowed himself a small smile at her large wondering eyes, before stepping back and turning to face the chairman, "if I am needed for nothing further, I am going."

Cross who had been slightly transfixed by the little episode unfolding in front of him simply nodded, "yes, we can discuss more things later perhaps, I'll call you when you're needed."

Zero nodded heading for the door, but before he shut it, without turning back he spoke barely loud enough to be heard, "Yuki, it's good to see you again," and then he was gone.

At this Yuki's eye's grew impossibly wider as she starred at the door, then up at her brother, who was watching her, and then over at Kaien Cross, who simply smiled at the closed door. But before she could voice any of her questions, Kaname voiced his. "Do you know what brought about this change in Kiryuu?"

Cross turned his attention to the young pureblood, and was about to speak when he was interrupted by Yagari, "why should it matter to you? or does this mean now you'll have to change your tactics in that little game of chess you like to play with us all. Perhaps its better you don't know."

Kaname remained impassive to the older hunter's jabs, while Cross eyed Yagari before replying to Kaname's question, "as you yourself noted earlier, he's less hungry, and since only Takuma, Senri, Rima, and a few other night class students, truly aiming for co-existence, have remained after you left, despite him being the only prefect, his duties have been more relaxed. The stresses of the day to day have eased on him a bit; he has been able to sleep more. Overall, the sleep-deprived teenager in constant bloodlust, afraid that he would at any moment break down into a monster he was trained to despise that would threaten not only his peers, but also his dearest friend," his eyes rested on Yuki at this point, "that you knew before was not perhaps the best, nor the most accurate picture of Zero. There is more to it, of course, then even what I mentioned, but I think I hit some of the main, if not superficial points in my analysis."

Yagari grunted, "Maslow's hierarchy of needs aside, the kid still had to deal with the vampires responsible for his parents death and his own transformation running loose, as well as having a brother who…, well, and yourself using him, degrading his worth, not to mention the little miss's propensity to endanger herself; oh, I think we have hit on most of the points now."

Though Kaname had earlier known of some Zero's stresses, seeing the physical transformation between the Zero of yesteryear and that presently somehow put a greater emphasis on the turmoil Zero had previously been facing, and Kaname couldn't help but feel a slight pang at being among the list of troubles that had composed the former Zero.

"Chairman," Yuki's delicate voice broke the silence that had settled in the room after the description of Zero's past woes.

"Ah, Yuki-chan you know you can still call me tou-chan if you want," Cross suggested hopefully.

"Uhn. Now that Zero has left I think we should discuss more fully our reason for returning to Cross Academy."

"Oh?" Cross and Yagari exchanged looks with raised eyebrows before settling their gaze on the young pureblood, and their behinds on whatever surface was closest.

"So Kuran was intentionally pissing Zero off to get him to leave then?"

"No, that was just an added benefit to my actions," Kaname retorted.

Yuki directed her gaze to Cross and began, "We came back because I have a feeling someone is going to try and do something to Zero. You see, a few evenings ago while visiting Nakaharu-san's dinner party I first heard about it…."

**Flashback**

Yuki stood by her brother's side, remaining listless as every vampire at the party approached them to fawn over the Kuran siblings; she was beginning to detest the prolix introductions each new face felt inspired to give. It was not until the youngest son of the Nakaharu family (about the same age as Kaname) approached that Yuki blinked out of her stupor.

"I hear that you previously attended Cross Academy, am I correct?"

"Why yes," Yuki stammered as the charismatic young man starred down at her, his full attention on her alone, while another noble chatted up her brother.

"What was it like there? Did you fear for yourself?"

Yuki's brows furrowed, "why should I have been afraid?"

"Well, I heard the Kiryu heir goes there, and he is capable of killing purebloods, in fact he has killed two within the last half year."

"Oh, but he's not like that," Yuki protested, not quite sure what she was objecting to, but feeling like this young man had the image of her former dearest and best friend all wrong.

"You mean he didn't kill your uncle?"

"No, he did, but-"

"And he didn't kill Shizuka-sama?"

"Well, he shot her, but…"

"Wait, were you there? Did you see him do those things?" Nakaharu asked eyes wide.

"Well, mostly…" Yuki was going to elaborate, but when she saw Nakaharu starring at her as if he had just won a years supply of pure blood, she stopped for a moment, then proceeded.

"He is not simply a pure-blood killer as you suggest." She had to be careful of how she said things now; she had already incriminated Zero, if she said anymore, especially about their past friendship, she would only add to the number of vampires who would be curious about him. She was trying really hard to act like pureblood.

"Oh, I figured that, after all, Kuran-sama seems in very good health, as do you." Nakaharu took this moment to give Yuki a quick scan, which made the girl blush. "Besides, I don't think so many families would be sending their children there if he were such a loose cannon."

"Um… excuse me?"

Nakaharu couldn't help but smile at the young pureblood's naivety on all customs vampire. A pureblood should never show their confusion, should always at least pretend like they knew everything, which, they usually did, and most of all, should never expose where their true interest lay. But there was something enchanting about this young girl, with her sweet, genuine nature, so Nakaharu decided to indulge her.

"Well, it's been a while since vampire society has seen anything intriguing, and this Kiryu creature is definitely one such oddity." Nakaharu lowered his voice and leaned closer to Yuki, beginning to weave together Zero's tale like a bed time story of lore. "The Kiryu clan has been a strong hunter clan for as far back as hunter myths start, and then, there was the birth of cursed twins into this family. The dominant twin was transformed into a level D vampire, but instead of succumbing to a monstrous state, as most D's do within weeks if not at longest months, this particular individual remained stable for years. Long enough to be reunited with his master, and as sure as I am that his master called him, and did her best to control the young vampire, he possessed enough skill to defeat his own creator. A thing unheard of in vampire culture, the call of your master has never been broken according to our records. And if this didn't already stir enough curiosity in the young heir, he went on to defeat another pureblood, your own uncle, who was known for his brutality and fighting prowess. It is even rumored that the young man can use hunter weapons, despite being a vampire, and has vampire powers, despite being a level D vampire; two other anomalies within our history. Stories from some of those who have been lucky enough to see him have even started to circulate saying that he has eyes the color of lavenders, hair the color of the moon, and he possesses beauty that could make Narcissus envious. All in all, he has begun to capture the imagination of countless noble and pureblood families, who wish to possess him."

"Wait, p-possess him?"

Nakaharu was slightly delighted to see that what had stopped the young woman was the latter fact, and not any of the former, because as far as he was concerned, that confirmed the previous statements to be true.

"Yes, several noble and pureblood families have decided to send a member of their family to Cross Academy to try and gain control over the young man, because despite all his accomplishments, he is still a level D, and it is possible that he could fall under the power of someone of a higher class. If you ask my opinion though, it is pointless, if Kiryu can defeat his own master, then I highly doubt anyone else can control him." Nakaharu relished the expressions flitting across Yuki's face, allowing his enjoyment to reflect out of his own mask.

"I tend to agree with you, Nakaharu-san," Kaname's voice broke the two out of their thoughts. And Yuki turned to look up at her brother with pleading eyes.

**End Flashback**

Yagari starred, mouth slightly agape, until his faces started to contort as fury began to bubble within the hunter. "Fucking vampires just won't leave the kid alone."

Yuki flinched noticeably at the words; Kaname instinctively wrapped his arms around her. Cross just remained still, brows slightly furrowed and eyes squinted shut.

"Um…I didn't know what we should do, which is why I wanted to consult you two before we tell Zero anything, I don't know how he'll take the news." Yuki mumbled, burrowing further into her brother's embrace, a slight blush on her cheeks. "But I want to protect him, like he has me."

Cross smiled at his daughter, such a good little girl he had raised. "You see Yagari, it's not all vampires, these two came back to protect Zero."

"Well at least the little one did," Yagari allowed his posture to slightly relax as he looked at Yuki, convinced in her care for his young apprentice.

"Kaname-kun is here to help too," Yuki chimed in, trying to defend her brother.

"Hmph. Well, with any luck people will get tripped up looking for someone that could 'make Narcissus envious' and they won't identify Zero for a while," Yagari chuckled to himself a little. His student was a good looking kid, but seriously.

Quite contrary to Yagari's musings, Kaname pondered, _perhaps losing his eye has affected his eyesight worse then I thought, should he really be allowed to have a gun, _Kaname's fine aesthetic had forced him to admit to the hunter's physical allure_._ However, he expressed his musings as, "if that is all we are relying on to protect Kiryu, he's doomed," _they'll gobble him up in an instant_.

Yuki and Cross nodded in agreement; apparently it was only the one-eyed hunter, who had neglected to notice Zero's beauty.

"Chairman, I assume it is too late to reconsider enrolling these students without creating problems," Kaname carefully studied Cross's expression.

"Yes," the chairman nodded, he laced his fingers together and propped them up under his chin, leaning more heavily onto the desk in front of him. "Besides, I cannot dismiss a student willing to modify their lifestyle towards co-existence simply because of rumors. Even if co-existence isn't their primary interest in entering the school, we can only hope some of its ideals stick, as they did with several of your followers Kaname-kun."

"Alright," Yuki clutched her fist tight, keeping them close to her in a mock fighting stance, some of her youthful vigor returning to her voice, "operation Protect Zero will commence."

"Umm…Yuki, we have to plan it first."

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><p>AN: Please review, _especially_ giving _constructive criticism_, I would really appreciate any advice. The story starts out kinda third person limited, but I am not sure if this is an effective writing style. Please help me become a better writer. Also, this story may take a while to develope, but I have a contingent plan.


	2. The Reaction

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knights, nor any of its characters.

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><p>After the Kuran's left the office, Touga turned to face his long time friend. "You do realize that with all the attention Zero has gained, it is likely to begin soon, don't you?"<p>

"Yes, it seems so, or at least, our participation in it needs to start. I have set up a meeting with our opponent already. We will be meeting in four days, a day after the new students arrive."

"Good, until then I will try and find out as much as I can from the old Association records. It's still hard to believe to what extent the former president betrayed us."

"Yes," Kaien agreed solemnly, but then his eyes transformed into those of a starry-eyed school girl, "but you'll be true to us, won't you Mr. President."

"Kaien, such behavior is not befitting of a senior hunter."

"Ex-hunter, Touga"

"Sure, see ya soon Kaien."

"Good bye Touga, and take care." Yagari nodded as he exited the office. The game was about to begin.

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><p>Yuki and Kaname ventured back to the Moon Dorms unaccompanied, they unpacked their belongings in their separate rooms, and then joined the others in the lounge downstairs. Evening was falling and everyone was gathered together to reacquaint amongst themselves before the new students arrived; both Kuran's enjoyed watching Takuma's childish glee, with Kain, Shiki, Rima, and Seiren in their usual monotone, while Luca instigated behavior more childish and less gleeful from Aidou<em>. <em>In the midst of they playful banter the young hunter's scent wafted in through the open window.

"I'll go check on that," Takuma's cheerful smile reached his eyes as he headed for the door. Everyone's gaze followed Takuma, with the exception of Rima and Shiki, who simply exchanged knowing looks.

Takuma pulled open the large oak door, just as Zero made his way up the steps of the Moon Dorms and into view.

"Zero-kun, it's been a while."

Zero peered into the room where seven vampires sat and stared at him, reticently his eyes moved towards the sweet beaming face of Takuma.

Zero gave a nod, "Yeah, has everything been okay?" His eyes strayed back to the other vampires, giving him their full unwanted attention.

"Yes. Everything has been wonderful, though I've missed your company and cooking." Takuma smiled, his eyes trailing Zero's towards his friends. The look on Luca's face was priceless, Kain's mouth was slightly agape and his eyebrow's raised in disbelief, Aido looked like he was having a fond memory, Yuki looked wide-eyed as ever, but a smile was beginning to form in them, and Kaname managed to keep his features almost completely in check with the exception of one slightly raised brow. Rima and Shiki's faces held no shock, they only exchanged a look once more and remained as stoic as any professional model would, preserving their faces from wrinkling with unnecessary emotion.

Takuma's eyes found their way back to Zero who was giving him a stern look, like a parent would a child after saying something inappropriate. "The chairman requested to see Aido, Kain, and Luca-sempai," Zero informed.

Aido whined, Luca rebuffed him, and Kain commented on the childishness of them both, as they strode out the door, all four leaving for their destination. Takuma sighed and closed the door behind them.

"Poor Zero-kun"

"Uhn," both Rima and Shiki agreed.

"Zero-kun?" Kaname questioned his childhood friend ligthtly.

"Yes, I guess I didn't tell you, did I?" The unwavering calm of Kaname's face remained just that, and Takuma took it as a sign to continue and did so with a slightly nervous laugh. "Ha, well, after all of the chaos of our last battle, the Moon Dorms were slightly uninhabitable, so until the mess was cleaned up, we stayed at the chairman's residence to remain on campus."

Kaname nodded, and Yuki's smile seemed to grow by millimeters with every passing second. Both seemed to want him to continue, and looking to Rima and Shiki, neither of them seemed interested in adding to the story.

"While we were there, we had to… no, we had the pleasure of interacting with Zero. When someone was agitated, a glass of water and blood tablets would appear. At mealtimes, Zero-kun would cook for us. He would even lend his ear on occasion, if one of us was truly anxious."

"Uhn, he even apologized to me for killing my biological father." Shiki almost, but not discernibly, smiled at the memory of Zero leaning against the doorframe, eyes downcast, and scratching the back of his head while he awkwardly spluttered out an apology, that left a confused tear on Shiki's cheek. Shiki still wasn't quite sure how it had managed to grow sizable enough to escape over the precipice of his eyelid, but with the sheer humor in the irony of the situation, and all of the emotions floating within him, that one tear managed to escape and reveal he was not the complete absence of emotion he pretended to be. That one tear had been a startling revelation to himself, and it had freaked Zero out so much that Zero actually let down his guard and spent time talking with Shiki. The next day Shiki found a bag filled with boxes of Pockey outside his bedroom door, and Zero in the kitchen unloading the groceries.

"He's really not so bad," Rima added, remembering how well he had treated Shiki and Takuma, while the former dealt with the death of his evil father who had possessed him, and the latter with his betrayal of his family, and the blood that Takuma seemed to be unable to wash from his hands. He had treated her well too; just, she had not been suffering the same turmoil as her two dear friends. But Rima was lifted from the memory by the excited aura of Yuki Kuran washing over her.

Yuki remained sitting by her brother's side, but her knuckles were white as she clutched the hem of her short skirt, wringing its fabric between her hands. The slight scent of salt filled the air, causing Kaname to lift the chin of his sister's downturned head. Yuki's pursed lips were upturned in a smile.

"Yuki," Kaname breathed out her name at the sight before him, in the past month, he had not once seen her so uncontrollably happy, and yet simple references to Zero could bring this about.

"I'm sorry Kaname," she snuffled and brought a sleeved wrist up from her lap to dry her eyes. "I'll try to control myself better in the future," she murmured.

"Yuki," Kaname muttered again, this time his voice hitting a low tone of sorrow. All the time she was trying to restrain her emotions, her sorrow, her annoyance, her joy, because she was trying to become like him, a pureblood. Kaname wrapped his arms around his sister and drew her closer.

Takuma turned his head away from the scene to allow them privacy, and was about to send Rima and Shiki upstairs when Yuki pulled away from her brother and perfuse apologies and sniffles, requested their attention.

"Takuma, Shiki, Rima-san, Kaname-kun, I am sorry, I won't have another outburst, but could you please tell me more, about Zero-kun I mean. Like, has he made friends?"

Takuma looked to Kaname, who nodded, so he proceeded. "Yes, since he stopped glaring at everyone, Zero-kun has become quite popular. It's actually a bit funny," Takuma chuckled to himself, "without his old demonic aura and with most of the night class missing, I think most of the girls come to the class change-over now just to ogle and giggle about Zero-kun."

"Oh? Then does Zero have a girlfriend now?" Yuki asked eyes big, and fist clenched against her chest.

"He's private, so I honestly don't know, but from what I can tell, I don't think he does. Truthfully, he actually seems a bit agitated with this current development, and he just does his best to ignore it."

"Oh."

After looking down at his sister Kaname took a moment to clarify, "so he has a fan-club, not friends?"

"I guess that may be an accurate description, at least for the Day Class; but as for myself, I consider Zero-kun one of my friends, though I am not sure if the opinion goes both ways," Takuma noted a tad hesitantly. "But he doesn't seem as against vampires as I imagined him to be."

"Yes," Yuki's tone held conviction, "do you remember, when you where all away on break, and Aido-kun stayed behind?" They all remembered. That was the break Shiki was possessed by Rido, the break when all hell started to break loose in their little utopia. "Well Aido came and visited us, and Zero, he cooked for him, even offered him some blood tablets. He seemed concerned for Aido even back then, so he can't be as against vampires as we all thought." By the way her voice began to die away by end of her tale, by the way she had included herself amongst them, it started to dawn on the group what she was seeking. She needed assurance that Zero would find away to accept her, once again.

As realization hit, Takuma did his best to answer her unasked question, "Did you know the Hunter's Association is restructuring under their new president, Yagari-sensei."

Yuki looked at him earnestly shaking her head, "No."

"Well it seems that the previous president was quite corrupt, and took bribes from vampires. Yagari-sensei, who had started investigating the Association sometime after coming to teach at Cross Academy found some evidence against the old ways the former Association president had insisted upon and presented them to his fellow hunters. It seems the former president was in league with the Council in the attack against Cross Academy. Based on the presented evidence, Yagari's own senior hunter status, intellect, and honorable nature he was elected the next president. He has been very open about some of the changes he has been making; one of them has been to make a level 'D' vampire his protégé."

"You mean he's taken Zero on as a student again?"

"Yes, it appears that the Kuran and Cross dream of co-existence may be coming closer to fruition. Likewise, Chairman Cross and Yagari-sensei have both been working with Zero and us, further establishing necessary adjustments to the campus to encourage co-existence. It seems that they have also been influencing Zero to believe that not all 'bloodsuckers' contain the same amount of evil; just like humans and just like hunters. I think Yagari just wants the Zero to ease up on himself, but Cross is encouraging Zero to grow in the ideal of co-existence."

Yuki's eyes brimmed with hopeful tears. Perhaps, she and Zero could be friends again.

Kaname sat watching, as his sister and lover yearned for another man's, Zero's, acceptance. Meanwhile, Shiki watched his cousin's mask, and the sorrow the shone through the openings left for his eyes.

"Kaname-sama, you're the only one here who hasn't tasted Zero's cooking."

Kaname was drawn out of the scene before him, and turned to look at his cousin, a brow raised.

"Apparently, even Aido has had Zero-kun cook for him," Rima chimed in, joining the game of distract-the-pureblood.

"What is your point?" _More importantly, what is this feeling, _Kaname inclined his head. It was a welcome change from the icy, deep wells of sorrow which had been their before, it warmed him, biting lightly at his soul. It was small, but he new this feeling, he had felt it many times before when considering Zero and Yuki's close relationship, but this time it wasn't focused against Zero, Kaname was growing jealous. Apparently, he was the only one in the room whom Zero still knowingly despised, everyone else Kiryu even went so far as to care for.

"I was just thinking, maybe if you talk with him, you can get him to cook for us all again. Honestly, it's better then Pockey." Rima fed Shiki another stick of said Pockey after he finished talking and allowed the right side of her mouth to ascend gracefully into a half-smile. Shiki had not only been trying to distract the pureblood, but was trying to find him comfort and resolution at the source of the arising problem.

"Perhaps," Kaname replied, already strategizing on how to get said desired meal, it was better then thinking about the alternative concerning his sister's unsettled feelings.

"Yuki," Kaname called, and she nodded, looking at him wide-eyed, "how did Aido get Kiryu to cook for him?"

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><p>As the next two days passed Yuki spent time catching up with Chairman Cross over tea, and with Yori as they went into town, and watched Zero from afar, as either he or she always seemed preoccupied with someone when the other came into view.<p>

Zero meanwhile was comforted as the ever growing attention he had been receiving was somewhat diverted back to the returning members of the night class; though to his dismay, he still often received the unwanted spotlight. Yet, this was overshadowed by what he observed of the Kuran's behavior with one another. Though outwardly Kaname was attentive to Yuki, and Yuki trailed along after him, in the same way she always had, something was off. The sorrow, and self imposed loneliness Zero always experienced radiating from Kaname had not retreated, but had instead encroached upon Yuki. It was not overly obvious, except for in brief moments, Yuki would slip; and Zero, having known her for most of his cognizant life, would catch it.

Kaname on the other hand, was observing Zero, still with the goal of obtaining said desired meal. He knew the goal was petty, but he allowed it, for once he did not want his schemes to hold the gravity of a life or death situation, he had spent to long in that world. He had spent over ten years in that world, doing his best to protect his sister, to allow her to grow as a normal human child, to avoid the damnation that came with being a pureblood. In the end though, despite his efforts she had changed, and was now under the scrutiny of the vampire society he had tried to protect her from, and he felt even more cursed for contaminating her with his loneliness.

No, Kaname needed to focus on something trivial. But the more he watched the prefect, the more he couldn't help but feel his emotions strongly stir. He noticed how much the boy had changed, or at least how much his perception of the boy was changing. Zero drew people to him, not only the capricious Day Class student, but also the vampires. Kaname would catch moments when a gentle smile would caress Zero's lips as he spoke with Takuma, Shiki, Rima, and the others. Kuran found himself pleasantly enjoying his new task, though he had yet to receive said desired meal, perhaps it was not yet time.

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><p>Midnight, the day before the new students would arrive, Zero stood on the prefect's lookout, and gazed down at the campus. "You and I up here, it's like old times," Zero whispered, as he continued to stare ahead, surveying the grounds.<p>

Yuki walked diffidently to Zero's side, and leaned with her elbows against brick, staring out towards the horizon. "Could it be, like old times, I mean, for you and me? Can we go back?"

Zero tilted his head to the side and looked down at the melancholy form beside him. "Yuki, you drank my blood."

"Right, I'm a vampire now," Yuki's head dropped and her shoulders sagged.

"Yuki," Zero turned and leaned against the brick, placing his full attention on the young pureblood. "You saw my memories."

"Huh?" she looked up at him, moist eyes wide with bewilderment. "Yes, I…I won't ever forget them." Her gaze lowered, as did her voice, "they were beautiful Zero."

"Then you know what I've felt for you. How desperately I needed you in the past."

Yuki blushed, and slowly nodded. "As I need you Zero."

"Yuki, you don't need me. You chose Kuran." Zero looked at her, his voice was hollow, but his eyes were pleading. "You saved me Yuki; I will be here for you, but …"

"But…" Yuki repeated the condition; it had never been there before. Zero had indeed changed. "Zero… I'm tired." She looked up to see him looking down at her, eyes full of the tender kindness she had always seen there.

They stayed frozen for a while, until Zero quietly asked, "what's been bothering you?"

Yuki remained quiet for a while, as tears gathered in her eyes, then like a breaking dam in a flood she burst, "I am no good at being a pureblood. I can't keep myself in check, the social gatherings are embarrassing, I can't remember all the proper etiquette, and I feel like I am constantly failing."

There was a short silence, then Zero whispered "you haven't changed." Zero smiled as he looked down at her, and Yuki was dazzled. "When we were younger, you did the same thing after exams, even a few months ago, you brought down our entire class average."

Yuki scrunched her face, her eye's as close to glaring as she could get them, where was that kindness she was thinking he possessed.

"Yuki, it's been a month, and you've always taken your time to learn things. Be patient, it will come with time. It always does."

There it was, "Zero," she breathed, he was astonishing as always, he knew exactly what she needed, but now there was something new, like he possessed the ability to heal her with his words. So she allowed herself to revert back to being childish and eyed him accusingly, "you've changed while I was gone."

Zero shrugged and slid his hands into his pockets, "I thought I lost everything the day you left. But, I've had a lot of time to think."

They sat in silence for a while, then abruptly Yuki asked, "so you really haven't been hungry for the past month?"

"Only very recently, I've been thirsty," Zero shifted and his gaze lifted towards the heavens, "but Ichiru's blood…it was saturated with Shizuka's, and …I gained his extra hunter strength. I was more than completed by the process… I gained something extra. I can still get thirsty, but most human blood has lost its appeal. I no longer need worry about bloodlust in the middle of class."

Yuki eyed him curiously, "but what about my blood, does it still appeal to you?"

Zero shifted uncomfortably, "its not important Yuki."

Yuki pouted, but let it drop, "Do you think you're safe then, from falling?"

"For now, yes," Zero's tone was slightly curt, and they sat in silence for a while. Then Yuki slowly scooted over and leaned her head on Zero's shoulder.

"Zero?"

"Uhn."

"Can we just stay like this for a while?"

"Something else has been on your mind."

Yuki nodded, but didn't say more.

"Yuki, tell me?"

"I…I still can't understand why Kaname likes me, I'm such a screw-up, and sometimes I think he is just going to marry me because it's his duty."

"Yuki-"

"Zero, I miss you, and how you always know what to say to make me feel better, and how I can yell at you and you fight back. I'm …lonely."

Zero stiffened, "Yuki, Kuran loves you, and you've always drooled over him." Zero felt his pulse quicken, but calmed himself, running a hand through his hair, "when you say things like that, they might be misconstrued. I shall remain your _friend_." He said the last sentence like it was a mantra he had repeated many times before.

"Yes, of course," she nodded, not meeting his gaze.

"Yuki?" Zero interrupted the awkward silence that had settled on them.

"What?"

"Why did you come back suddenly?"

"Oh." She looked up at him, her former embarrassment dissipating as she thought of her mission, "to protect you."

Zero eyed her skeptically, "from what exactly?"

"The incoming students"

"Are they seeking revenge for killing Rido?"

"No," Yuki peered up at him, "they want you."

"Why? And dead or alive?"

"Alive, and for a number of reasons."

"Yuki, have you adjusted to the vampire schedule, because you seem delusional," Zero teased.

"You…," Yuki made to punch his arm, but he lightly blocked her fist.

"I have to go make rounds again. See you at class change over."

"Yeah, I'll see you then," Yuki gave him one last smile, and he jumped over the corner of the lookout.

Zero started for the woods after landing, then halted. "Kuran, how long have you been there?"

"Since Yuki came to meet you."

Something akin to guilt began to nestle its way into Zero's stomach. "How good is your hearing?"

There was a pause before Kaname slowly stated, "You should believe her, we came back to protect you from those who wish to claim you."

"What are you going to do?"

"Like I said, we are here for your protection," Kaname continued in a monotone.

"That isn't what I mean Kuran," Zero kept his voice low, almost gentle, unease still clenching his stomach.

"It is not your concern Zero," Kuran's voice kept even, but his eyes fixed themselves to Zero's left.

"It is when Yuki is concerned," Zero's voice was calm, but resolute.

Pieces of brick exploded over Zero's left shoulder, and reflexively he drew Bloody Rose and aimed at Kaname's head. But when garnet met lavender, Zero lowered the gun. Kuran may be a threat, but worse consequences awaited Zero if he pulled the trigger.

Kaname watched as in one fluid motion, Zero drew his weapon, lowered it, and then returned it to its holster. Zero's skills had progressed since the last time Kuran had Bloody Rose aimed at him. Zero took several deep breaths, but kept his eyes trained on Kuran and remained quiet.

Kaname anticipated a verbal explosion from Zero, but none came, and to the surprise of both of them, Kaname found himself answering Zero's question. "I won't do anything."

"What?"

Kuran turned to leave, but halted at Zero's next words.

"If you do nothing, then how will she know you care?"

Kaname remained still for a moment, and then continued his motion to leave, rhetorically asking, "And what pray tell would you suggest?"

"Talk with her." His tone wasn't desperate, or pleading, it held all the authority of a command.

Kaname turned with brow raised to look at his former-romantic-rival; this was a sore subject, one he did not want being picked at, especially by this man. But at the same time, he could not deny that it was this man, from whom he had taken all that he could, and who still told the woman they both loved to return to Kaname's arms, instead of allowing her to seek refuge with his level D self.

"I've told her how I feel," Kaname admitted.

Zero allowed his tense frame to minutely relax, and ran a hand through his hair. "That's different from talking Kuran. With Yuki, she'll start acting odd, but unless you confront her, she won't likely tell you when something is wrong."

Kuran was stymied by Zero's words. This beautiful boy, whom a month ago he had inflicted emotional torment upon, wasn't tormenting him with the fodder he just received. Wasn't condemning him for his shortcoming with Yuki, wasn't claiming that he would have done better, Zero was giving him advice. Zero was trying to help selvage the relationship between Kaname and Yuki, instead of steeling Yuki away. It didn't register.

"What do you hope to gain by this Kiryu?"

"You'll make Yuki happy," Zero commanded, making eye contact with Kaname.

After years of allowing his sight to be clouded by pity which grew into discontent then into dislike and ultimately into hatred and jealousy, Kaname had never looked at the boy, except to see how Zero could be manipulated for his personal use. But hearing Zero insists that Kaname could make her happy, though Kaname had his doubts, obliterated had what remained after the past few days of Kaname's previously loathsome image Kiryu. Zero was no longer an enemy.

"I'll speak with her," Kuran finally allowed, unable to take his eyes from Zero's. Zero, however, closed his eyes and allowed some of the stress to leak out of his angelic features. In slight awe of the beautiful scene Zero painted, Kaname felt a slight tension build as he remembered why they had come back to the Academy in the first place. "Kiryu…"

Zero looked up quizzically, having expected Kuran to have left already.

"I will protect you."

The prefect's brows furrowed further, he never expected anyone, least of all Kuran to say such words to him, and yet, both Yuki and her brother had said they would. Unease was beginning to build in him again, "from what?"

"Those that would claim you," Kaname stated, like that explained everything.

"What do you mean 'claim me'?" Zero pressed as he began to tense, but he kept his voice calm.

"You may have proven your prowess, but you are still a level D."

"Meaning?"

"It would be different from the control Shizuka exerted over you, but a similar feeling. Because you are a level D you are susceptible to the whims of purebloods, they can cloud your mind and manipulate your body, or at least such can be done with other level D's." The slight admission that Zero might be different from other level D's was actually quite a step for Kaname, but Zero was too engrossed in his own thoughts to notice.

Zero suppressed a shiver, remembering all to well what it felt like to be controlled. Pushing the memory aside, he mulled over this new information, if it was true, and several purebloods were coming tomorrow to "play" with him, he was fucked. So he did his best to remain skeptical.

"Okay, but why would they specifically want me? Wouldn't it be easier to find a puppet closer to them?" Zero visibly cringed, and anger crept into his voice at the thought of what he was suggesting.

"Kiryu, you are …unique, and have built a reputation as a tempting individual."

"Tempting?" Zero spat the word like it was acid, then contemplated what he had just been told.

"Kuran, do you realize how ridiculous this sounds? Purebloods and nobles are coming to a school preaching co-existence, changing their lifestyles, all to try and 'claim' some lowly level D?"

"According to the general public you are responsible for the death of two purebloods," Kuran stated, trying to explain the plausibility of the situation to Zero.

"So they want me as a weapon?" _Okay, makes sense,_ Zero consented.

"Not entirely," Kaname took a moment to contemplate how he should warn Zero about the situation he would soon be in, and found himself slightly distraught. "Zero there are many reasons that vampires of higher ranks generally are more sought after."

Zero eyed him, not sure where this was going.

"One of them being that higher level vampires, in all reported cases, are stronger then lower level vampires"

Zero nodded, indicating he understood.

"In vampire society, as sometimes among humans and hunters, power is attractive."

Zero expected Kuran to continue, but was met by silence.

"Kuran, according to what you're saying, these incoming vampires are attending Cross Academy to get close to you …or Yuki." Zero, nonchalance gained urgency as his train of thought continued. "Kuran, get Yuki out of here," Zero demanded, eyes wide.

"Kiryu, neither Yuki, nor I are in eminent danger by being here, we can protect ourselves."

"What are you implying Kuran?"

"That to avoid the risk of you attracting the attention of more vampires, you had better keep you're pureblood-kill-count as low as possible."

"This is ridiculous Kuran. You make it sound …" Zero's voice simply died off, as he allowed his moonlit hair to shade his eyes.

"like you're desirable?" Kaname eventually finished for Zero, "it's true."

Zero looked up, his eyes meeting Kuran's, and in a sure tone he stated "that's ridiculous."

And yet, there Zero stood; the physical embodiment of temptation. Kaname quickly scanned Zero's lithe frame, from his elegant legs, to his thin waist filling out into his broad shoulders, all of which no-doubt held sinewy muscles, strengthened by years of training. His gaze travelling past the smooth, creamy expanse of Zero's neck, past his full, enticing lips, and Zero's perfect nose and cheek bones to his exquisite, piercing, lavender eyes framed by a halo of silver. It was in Zero's eyes that Kaname felt the full effects of Zero's unintentional seduction. The aplomb which had taken residence in Zero's eyes was muddled, not with arrogance as was often the case, but with humility. The combination was utterly compelling, and Kaname found himself wishing he could taste that look, taste those emotions, find the memories and thoughts that had created Zero's tantalizing appearance.

Kaname took an unconscious step forward.

Zero took an intentional step back, and felt the wall making contact with the back of his heel. "Kuran, I need to go."

Kaname just nodded, and turned to leave, agitated with himself. He needed to go, he needed to go and do something … he needed to …talk with Yuki.

* * *

><p>As evening crept nearer, Cross and Zero made their way across their way across the school yard towards the Moon Dorms. The new students were supposed to be arriving soon, and as Chairman and prefect, Cross thought it pertinent that they both welcome the new students. Walking up the steps to the Moon Dorms, the large oak door opened and Zero could sense the auras' of two purebloods and several nobles in the lounge. He gently smiled as he felt a happiness that hadn't been their before, contagious among the aura's, originating from a pureblood.<p>

"Zero, we weren't expecting you." Kaname stated plainly, eyebrow tweaked upwards to support the claims of his surprise.

"Of course I would bring Zero-rin, Kaname-kun," Cross chirped while trying, and failing, to give Zero a glomping hug.

Zero just kept to himself. Though he remained highly skeptical about his vampire magnetism, he wanted to get the initial introductions out of the way as quickly as possible. When the sound of wheels on cobblestone hit Zero's ears he visibly tensed, and the present vampires quickly assembled, exiting the Moon Dorms and forming a blockade around Zero, who remained by the door. A light pink dusted across Zero's cheeks as he scanned the backs of their heads. But when he heard the click of the car door, Zero's head shot up in time to see the elegant frame of a pureblood vampire stepping out from the back seat of his limousine.

He quietly gave some orders to his chauffer, then looked up at the awaiting students. Proceeding towards the group he nodded towards the chairman, next towards Yuki, and then Kaname with a saccharine smile. But his pace never faltered, until he was at the barricade, "excuse me," he said, voice like liquid nitrogen. Grudgingly, Luca and Kain parted under the pressure of this new purebloods aura. Smiling he ascended to where Zero stood, Zero did his best to scoot further to the side leaving the doorway wide open. But the pureblood stopped abruptly in front of him, turning towards Zero with a devilish spark in his eye, he extended his hand. Zero eyed the proffered hand, and after it was not withdrawn he reluctantly extended his own.

"The rumors don't do you justice," the pureblood began, securing Zero's hand in his, then he bent his head, bring Zero hand to his lips, "Zero Kiryu."

* * *

><p>AN: Thank you to everyone who commented on or even read my first chapter. I did my best for you guys,and tried to get this chapter finished quickly. So if you find the quality lacking please forgive me, and tell me so I can fix it in the future.

TheSneakyHobo, thank you for telling me about Yagari, I went back and reviewed Vampire Knight, you are completely correct.

LuanRina and catcatcat I am keeping this third person, to the best of my ability, as you suggested.

Again, please tell me if you dislike my writing style, or anything else, including inaccurate character portrayls, or if you think relationships are being rushed, I would like to get better for all of you.

Thanks again for reading.


	3. The Arrival

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or any of its characters.

Warning: This fanfiction is eventually KanaZero fanfiction pairing, NOT KanaYuki or ZeroYuki.

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><p>"<em>The rumors don't do you justice," the pureblood began, securing Zero's hand in his, then he bent his head, bringing Zero's hand to his lips, "Zero Kiryu."<em>

Zero remained rigid, jaw tightly set, eyes trapped on the pureblood still clasping his hand. It was becoming extremely difficult to remain in denial, or even skeptical, of Kaname's claims to Zero's vampire allure, which just made him tenser.

The atmosphere seemed devoid of air, for all except the new student, who began sensually purring as he inhaled Zero's scent, burning crimson eyes peering up through thick black lashes and locking with Zero's. "Delicious," he hummed, licking his lips, which just recently left Zero's hand.

Within a second Bloody Rose was patiently resting against the vampire's temple.

"One of the first rules of Cross Academy, do _not_ drink the blood of any human or unwilling individual," the threat quite clear in Zero's voice.

The pureblood straightened to his full height, a few centimeters taller than Zero, while releasing his hand, but he kept a suggestive smirk planted on his handsome features. Slowly, he brought his right hand up, and began lightly caressing Bloody Rose with his fingers, running them up and down the length of the barrel, small tendrils of light dancing between the gun and the vampire's outstretched hand.

Zero brought his other hand up to more securely grasp Bloody Rose, keeping his eyes trained for any sudden movements from the pureblood.

"I've always found it so provocative to be introduced to a hunter's weapon." The vampire's eyelids lowered suggestively, continuing to lightly fondle Bloody Rose, "they're so …brutal," he murmured, his tongue rewetting his moistened lips.

Zero's aura radiated confusion, as he fought an internal battle of priorities, between preservation of self or Bloody Rose's innocence. Meanwhile, shock finally released her captives, and the others began to stir.

Kaname felt an unwelcomed pang of aggression spike in him, as seeing this pureblood playing with Kiryu, but channeled it. "I had heard about your forwardness Sadayo-san, but I always believed such claims to be exaggerations."

A new look caught on the Sadayo's face, as his brow lifted, and the redness bleed from his eyes finally to settle on a frosty blue. "Yes Kuran-san, we cannot all be blessed with the same propensity for overcomplicating situations that you have," his honey-toned voice belying his insinuation. "But you carry it so gracefully Kuran-san, one would think it a burden." Sadayo ended his statement, finally tearing his eyes from Zero's face, which had held the pureblood captive almost as much as the strong pulse and smell of delicious blood flowing through Kiryu's tauntingly exposed neck.

"The capacity for higher thinking may indeed appear a burden to you, but I can assure you, it is not as onerous as you suggest. Perhaps in a few decades you'll share my sentiments." Kuran caught the expression of amusement that flitted across Zero's face, and he felt a small thrill of warmth for putting it there.

Sadayo's syrupy smile grew, but it only seemed to emphasize the malice alight in his eyes as the two purebloods stood a few paces apart, gazes locked, vehement aura's swallowing the small gathering.

"Come now Sadayo-san, we are both here for the same cause?"

"Are we?" Sadayo inquired, giving Kuran a quick scan, sizing up the competition, he was a tad shorter than Kuran, and had to admit that Kuran could probably best him, but he didn't back down.

"The desire for co-existence is an important cause, so let us not quibble over trifling matters? After all, we are peers now." Kaname continued with perfectly practiced politeness, which was disarming in its apparent sincerity.

"Yes, lets," Sadayo replied, slightly pacified by Kuran's apparent lack of interest in Zero.

"Excuse me? If you would like, may I lead you to your room?" Takuma inquired, taking preemptive measures to prevent another discomfiting moment.

"Hm? Yes of course, Akio, hurry up with luggage."

"Yes sir."

"You are the new head of the Ichijou family, are you not?" the pureblood inquired, turning to face Takuma.

Zero sent Takuma an apologetic look over Sadayo's shoulder, aiding the return of Takuma's genuine smile, which had faltered at the inquiry. "Yes, that is correct Sadayo-sama. How do you do," Takuma said politely and proceeded to bow.

Sadayo nodded, and stepped through the open doorway Akio trailing after, weighed down with luggage, and followed up by Takuma, who pulled the door shut after him.

After a few seconds of silence, Aidou turned to Kain and Luca, "Did you forget Kaname-sama's request, or do you simply dislike Kiryu that much?"

"Shut up Hana, we didn't really have a choice," Luca retorted.

"Kaname-sama asked us to keep Kiryu safe and you just parted ways and let Sadayo-sama walk right up to Kiryu." A pink flush settled across Zero's nose and cheeks, at Aidou's proclaimation; it was quite flattering to his features and drew the attention of both Kuran's, and Aidou.

Luca, who was still flustered with Hanabusa's accusations was about to snap back at Aidou when Kaname interrupted, "Enough you two. Chairman, I think it would be best if Kiryu-kun wasn't present for the remainder of the arrivals."

The Chairman stood slightly apart from the group, glasses glazed, and took a second to snap from his stupor to respond. "Um…I wasn't expecting that to happen." Kaien remained shell-shocked, then brought his hands to his face and allowed a dreamy expression, "My little son has gained the attention of royalty, maybe he'll soon find love."

Jaws dropped at Cross's proclamation, and Yuki shook her head, the Chairman always used to say the worst things in front of Zero, time apparently hadn't changed him. But her eyebrows pinched together in bafflement, when she looked back on it, though his tactics were wrong, Kaien had usually had a healing intent behind his comments. What was he doing now?

But it was Zero's voice who broken the stunned silence, "Kuran," both Kuran's turned to face him, his voice sounded a mixture of fatigue and surrender, "why do you want me to leave?"

Kaname took a moment, after what just happened, he was surprised Zero hadn't stormed off already, and now, instead of taking the offered excuse, Zero was asking him why he should be sent away. Zero was indeed unique. Kaname was about to respond when he sensed the approach of two new purebloods.

A sleek, black, classic pulled into view, with a small moving van behind it. The car stopped in front of the steps and a chauffer hurried opening one door, while bowing, then running around to open the opposite door and again bowing. Out of both doors stepped two elegant young figures, one male, the other female. The female stood closer, she wore a low, draping, salmon chiffon dress, which caressed her curves and complemented her pale skin, light blonde hair and mahogany eyes. Striding around the car to join her, the young man wore a well tailored gray suit, and had honey eyes and light brown hair that complemented his handsomely structured face.

"Well Kuran-san, Chairman, you should not have gone through the trouble of arranging a welcoming party simply for us," the young man's jovial tone and aura starkly contrasting with that of his partner.

"How do you do," she said in a monotone, inclining her head slightly to show deference. As she raised her eyes from the ground they caught on Zero, and her aura darkened in a confusing union of jealousy and enchantment.

"It is nice to have you join us at Cross Academy, Kawakami-san, Shiroyama-san," Kaname greeted. Kawakami gave a delayed bow, a cheerful smile gracing his features. Yuki watched him in fascination, he had such a different aura from any other pureblood she had met before, she couldn't quite understand it. However, Kaname followed Shiroyama's gaze, she had already spotted Kiryu and based on her aura, things did not bode well for the young hunter.

Kiryu had remained by the door, but because of the earlier commotion he was no longer shielded by a wall of nobles. Nonetheless, something in Zero's posture no longer screamed apprehension. Zero appeared less concerned.

"So you're the hunter all of the fuss is about?" Shiroyama questioned, voice sweet, but laced with vitriol, her full attention now on Kiryu.

"There are many hunters," was Zero's simple reply.

Shiroyama smiled, she not only liked his response, but after a rather pregnant assessing scan of the young hunter she was delighted by the physique which promised to be hidden under his clothes, the captivating beauty of the hunters features, and the lust-inducing power which radiated from the stoic young 'D'. "I don't think I would mind sharing you with Hideaki-kun after all." Kiryu's eyebrow quirked and jaw clenched, the only outer signs of irritation.

"Shiroyama-san, you are still betrothed with Sadayo-san then?" Kuran said, in polite monotone. Not betraying how irked he was by her roving eyes crawling on the hunter.

"Has Hideaki already arrived?" Shiroyama asked politely, but the melancholy in her aura betrayed her. Her avoidance of Kaname's question did not go unnoticed.

"Yes," Kuran began, just as Takuma slipped out from the door, he seemed slightly flustered, but unharmed. "Sadayo-san arrived just before both of you. Takuma was Sadayo's room to his liking?"

Takuma nodded, "Yes," his nervous smile hinting at a story he would later tell Kaname. During this brief distraction Kawakami took leave of Shiroyama's side and pranced up the steps to Zero, who managed to maintain a highly disciplined air of nonchalance.

"So you are the remainder of the Kiryu clan," Kawakami stated, which earned him a look of some intense emotion from Zero. Suddenly somber, Kawakami murmured, "you and I are both the last of our bloodlines." Then in a transformation Zero had known only Kaien to be capable of, Kawakami broke into a grin proclaiming loudly "Ne, Kiryu-kun, do you feel the pull of destiny? No, don't answer; words are beyond this type of connection." Kawakami had placed a finger across Zero's lips, which Zero quickly pushed away, and continued, "I can already tell how strongly you and I feel for each other. But alas, I will keep quiet, to refrain from making the others envious of our incredible love." Shiroyama gave him a disinterested look.

Zero's eyebrow was quirked, but he quickly changed it when he saw, what he assumed to be, a similar expression reflected on Kuran's face. "Kawakami-sempai," Zero began with a slight nod of his head, as close to a bow as any pureblood would ever get. He turned and repeated the gesture to Shiroyama, "I am this schools prefect and will severally punish anyone who disregards school policy, which Kuran and the Chairman will cover with you…" Zero paused, and his expression hardened, "if you'll excuse me, I must go." Zero gave another stiff nod, and left.

Everyone starred after him. Though for Zero, this was considerably polite, Kuran was still unsure of how the other purebloods would take Kiryu's manners, but then he smelt it. The reason Kiryu had left so abruptly came with the wind. The scent of several Day Class students, no doubt curious about the arrival of new peers, wafted teasingly through the air.

Cross took the lull in excitement as a chance to usher the new students into the Moon dorms. "Come on, let's get everyone situated, and I will go over the regulations of this academy once more."

Kawakami looked at the Chairman; head tilted cutely, "Chairman Cross, would it be acceptable to find our rooms and unpack while waiting for the rest of the new students to arrive? Or are we the last?"

Kaien's eyebrows rose at the question, "you are not the last, you'll be shown to your rooms first if that is what you wish."

Takuma stepped forward, bowed, "It is a pleasure to meet you; I am Takuma Ichijou, currently acting Vice President of the Moon Dorms. May I lead you to your rooms?"

Kawakami split into an ear-to-ear grin, giving Takuma a quick scan, and nodded, "yes, it would be a pleasure, I'm sure."

Takuma blushed lightly, "We will also assist you," Shiki stated, his monotone voice barely betraying the loyalty his actions implied, as he and Rima followed Kawakami and Shiroyama through the open door, with Takuma. Shiroyama could be heard quietly asking Takuma about the location of Sadayo's room, to a reply of nervous laughter.

Aidou looked over at Chairman Cross, slightly distraught, how were they supposed to deal with three new purebloods, "how many new students are coming?"

"Well there is one more pureblood student, but he won't make it for another two days," Kaien said thoughtfully, and Aidou and Luca blanched, Kain gave a huff of disapproval. "And there are an additional twenty-seven other new students of either noble or common class," Cross added, as if an after-thought.

While Aidou went into hysterics, Yuki turned to her brother, "Kaname-kun?"

"Yes Yuki?"

"Do you think something is wrong with Zero? Normally, he would never have allowed a vampire to touch him so intimately without there being a fight."

Kaname nodded, he thought it odd too, but then again, everything he thought he knew of Zero had been shattered in the last few days. "It's curious," Kaname agreed and made a mental note. "But shall we head in for now?" Kaname asked leaning down slightly and looking at Yuki with adoring eyes, and a smile, "otherwise we will be hearing about the pedigrees of every arriving noble, without Kiryu here to distract them."

Yuki smiled, she had noticed a small change in her dear brother after last night. "Yes, lets."

* * *

><p>The evening progressed, and the noble and common students came in a continuous stream. Zero never returned to the Moon Dorms, as the delinquent Day Class students kept him busy. Cross held several informational meetings with the new students, but as the night progressed he handed the task over to Kaname and Takuma.<p>

Overall, the night progressed without any extreme turmoil; however, there were awkward moments here and there. Some of the new, level B and C students would simply ogle Kaname as he walked past or addressed them. Shiroyama made a brief appearance, but quickly retreated to her room under the awestruck gaze of her peers. Sadayo seemed unaffected, but did not necessarily deign many of the new-comers important enough to engage in conversation. Only Kawakami seemed to find the campus-life exciting. He was eagerly talking with the other new students, and remained the center of attention unless Kaname entered the room, at which point Kawakami would happily cede the spotlight to the prince of their race.

By the end of the night, both Kuran's were watching Kawakami's charismatic displays, Yuki entranced and Kaname unsettled.

* * *

><p>As Kaien had walked to his car he could hear the delighted squeals of the Day Class girls, first class change-over with the additional students had begun. He drove on, the light of day slowly dying, the suns balmy rays clinging to the land and sky, not yet ready to relinquish the world to the cold, reflected light of the moon. In time Cross arrived at a large manor; parking in its large circular drive Cross strode up the endless stairs, and gently knocked on the doorway. The door crept open, the atrium that welcomed him was dimly lit.<p>

"It is a pleasure to finally see you in the flesh Cross Kaien," a low voice drifted through the stale air. "I hope my daughter's move onto campus has not been a trouble."

"Yes, there were no problems. She will be well looked after."

"I'm glad to hear it. Would you indulge me by joining me for a late evening snack over a game of chess? It is my favorite game after all."

"How could I refuse?" Kaien replied, stepping further into the grand, dark house, his normal sweet childishness left somewhere back at the Academy.

* * *

><p>At midnight Cross returned to campus, immediately heading to the prefect's lookout in search of Kiryu, his childlike demeanor already returning.<p>

Upon seeing the silver-haired beauty peering down on the school, protecting his dream, Cross allowed a proud fatherly smile for a moment, before pouncing on his son in an attempt to finally get that desired hug. "Zero-rin, you're so cruel," Kaien wined after having his forehead caught by Zero's palm in firm opposition.

"What do you want Kaien?" Zero asked, his mood unimproved from the previous night.

Kaien immediately stopped his antics, switching to a more serious tone, he stopped leaning on Zero's palm and waving his arms. "Meet me at the house in fifteen minutes; there is something we need to discuss."

Zero eyed him, then nodded.

"Oh, and Zero please come with an open mind."

Before Zero could ask Cross was gone, so Zero did another quick round of the school grounds before heading to the Chairman's quarters. As he walked closer he could feel the presence of pureblood inside.

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><p>AN: My apologies about this chapter, I had severe writers block, but am willing to rewrite this chapter upon request. Please tell me what you think of the OC's thus far, if you find they ruin your reading experience tell me, and I'll see what I can do. Apologies that this chapter was not full of KanaZero moments, but that will come next chapter if you are all so kind as to continue to want to read my work.

I wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed thus far. Your encouragement keeps me writing, I hope this chapter hasn't made you regret that.

Thank you.


	4. The Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knights or any of it's characters.

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><p>The door softly clicked shut, and Kuran listened to the nimble footsteps of the approaching hunter. He sat in the same chair he had several days ago, when Yuki and he first returned to the academy, to discuss a plan for protecting Zero. Since then, rules had been changed, restricting the movement of the night class further during school hours when the hunter was patrolling. Additionally, Kuran had requested his close followers take shifts keeping an eye on their peers, giving his friends ways to signal him, should they need his help monitoring an uncooperative pureblood. Yet despite the aforementioned measures taken, the headmaster had interrupted class to withdraw him, apparently something was already amiss.<p>

Cross peered from Zero, to Kaname, and back to Zero, "I suggest you take a seat."

For a moment Zero remained where he stood, but when Cross didn't continue he soundlessly took a seat.

"How did class change over go today?" Kaien asked; his cheerful self trying to lighten the smotheringly stale ambiance.

Kaname and Zero both starred him down with a similar disbelief as to why they were withdrawn from their respective activities, which upon further thought of Kaien's character was not a surprise to either of them. Kaname remained unmoved as he mulled over his thoughts.

Zero, however, was a little agitated. "No one was bitten, and the Night Class made it to class, is that all?" Zero inquired, eyeing the world outside the window with longing.

"So the student's behaved themselves?" Kaien pressed.

Kaname, having watched Zero's discomfort first hand this evening decided to give a response. "In a manner of speaking, they were no better, nor worse then the Day Class girls. Only Zero was the sole object of their affection."

Zero threw Kaname a glare, and while the pureblood felt this slightly reminiscent of old times, it seemed the chance of Zero ever cooking for him was slipping further away.

"I see." Kaien said, and remained silent for a moment.

"Kuranai was nearly trampled."

"Ahhh! What happened to poor little Maria-chan?" Kaien cried, flapping his arms in the air, resembling a flightless bird hoping to defy Nature's twisted sense of humor.

"She's fine," Kuran assured. "If you remember, she has inherited her bloodline's frailty. And when the Night Class students attempted to rush Zero, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But Zero was an effective prefect." Kaname could see Zero eyeing him in his periphery, an expression of suspicion clouding Zero's charming features.

"Zero," Kaien got up and rushed to his 'son' cupping the squirming prefects face in his hands, "how heroic you must have been, my dear son." As Cross finished is statement Zero effectively shoved the man from him, leaving Zero's hair attractively mussed and his cheeks faintly red with embarrassment.

"If there is nothing more," Zero started, rising from his seat, but he was stopped by Kaien.

"Wait Zero-rin, the reason I called you here is because I am worried about you being possessed by one of the purebloods," Kaien pouted.

Zero starred at Kaien for a moment, before looking to Kaname and asking in a deadpan tone "Are you two exchanging theories?"

"It's the responsible thing to do Kiryu."

"That was unnecessary."

Kaname was disheartened by Zero's current arctic manners. Perhaps he had been deceiving himself about where he stood with the hunter after their previous conversation. But then they were discussing Yuki and her well-being, Zero's advice had likely been for her benefit. Kuran shut his eyes and inhaled deeply, the slight scent of something he previously overlooked briefly catching his attention and causing his canines to elongate unbidden, before he responded, "Precautions are always essential when considering this institution," Kaname's voice stated in a monotone, but he quieted before adding "and those Yuki holds dear," the thought making his fangs retract.

Instantly, Zero's eyes morphed, heated with a coalescence of shame, guilt, fear, suffering, and a faint strand of hope. And when Zero spoke, his voice carried the weight of his well-aged sorrow, "if that is why you're here, you and Yuki should go. Yuki will forget me in time." Zero allowed his eyes to focus on the ground for a moment, before reigniting the contemplative purposefulness that now consumed him, and returning his gaze to Kuran. "Though I may die by the purebloods' hands, they will not use me as a weapon. Based on their auras, this much I can promise."

"So that's why you stayed?" Kaname questioned, impressed by the hunter's new-found endurance for the sake of information. Zero had dealt with the pureblood's flirtation to allow the needed time to analyze potential opponents' auras.

Zero nodded. "If that's your concern, you can leave. You have my word I will die before becoming one of their weapons."

Cross loudly cleared his throat, trying to regain Zero's and Kaname's attention. "But my precious Zero-rin, we care about you. Don't we Kaname-kun?" Cross didn't wait for an answer before continuing, something both Zero and Kuran noticed. "So that is why I came up with a plan to make sure you can withstand a mental assault."

Both pureblood and hunter were now intrigued, though Kuran didn't show it, and Zero merely quirked a skeptical eyebrow. Usually things that sounded too good to be true… well, life had taught him many lessons through harsh disappointment.

"I have a favor to ask of both of you, consider what I ask you before you respond. Zero-rin, it would comfort me if you would train with Kaname-kun," Cross said, leaving both young vampires starring at him wide eyed.

Zero bit back his immediate refusal by choking on air, gradually bringing himself to ask "What kind of training?"

"If Kaname-kun and you could practice building up a resistance to being possessed…" but Kaien died off as he looked at Kaname.

"I don't think you know what you are asking Cross-san," Kaname said bluntly.

"What do you mean?"

"Despite the numerous other complications with scheduling, and trying to keep the training a secret, as I am sure you were intending, practicing possession in these circumstances may be… problematical," Kuran tried to keep everything as diplomatic as possible.

"How so?" Kaien pushed.

"If a vessel does not willing give oneself over there are three main ways to weaken their resolve. The first is to cause distracting pain, either mentally or physically and force yourself on their mind. The second is to use an individual's weaknesses against them to inspire self-loathing, and thus weaken their own will. And the third and most likely to be used on Kiryu, based on yesterday's events, is …seduction."

Upon hearing what training would entail Zero immediately reached his decision. "No training, in comparison dying isn't so bad," Zero's stated, getting up to leave.

"Zero-rin wait," Kaien pleaded, but Zero reached for the door handle without a second thought.

"Zero, stay," Cross commanded, standing up and relinquishing his lighthearted façade; Then, collapsing into his chair Cross Kaien allowed fatigue to settle upon him, weighing down his body. "There is more," Cross commented, removing his glasses and rubbing his temples, "there is more than what Touga released to the public, and there is more than what we told you."

Zero turned around, carefully examining Kaien, concern beginning to furrow his brow. "What are you talking about?"

Cross kept his eyes shut as he spoke leaning back into his chair, "Zero what do you remember about former president betrayals?"

"He designed the hunter curriculum to foster enmity towards the vampire race, in order to increase unquestioning loyalty and his own power within the association. He further redesigned publicized accounts of vampire attacks to create further alienation between the two species so that he could work with the Senior Council without worrying about inter-species discourse revealing his unethical practices. He then took bribes from vampires and used the execution list to blackmail vampires opposing the Senior Council. No one caught on, because no one spoke with the vampires. Thus the current emphasis Yagari is placing on fostering communication between races to avoid abuse of the system."

Kaname looked from Zero, back to Cross; Takuma had previously mentioned the Hunter's Association restructuring under Yagari-sensei, and he had been aware of vague changes being made, but it spoke more fully to him coming from Zero's lips. "So this is the reason for your change towards our race?" Kaname asked; his unwavering gaze focused on Zero.

Zero looked over at Kaname, then nodded, "and other reasons," he added, but kept them to himself. Turning his attention back towards Kaien, "when you said there is more, you mean the former President betrayed us further, correct?"

Kaien nodded, "He played his part as a chess piece in the games of numerous purebloods. And that is why I called you here. It's not your peers whose powers you should fear Zero."

"You're worried about someone else possessing Kiryu?"

Cross nodded. "There is evidence someone more skilled in the arts of possession will attempt it."

Zero slowly made his way back to his seat, and with a tone flitting between exhaustion and vehemence he asked "what else do you know Cross?"

Cross hesitated floundering for the words, "Zero, certain events in your life," he looked to where Zero's forlorn form sat with Zero's back hunched forward and head leaning over his folded hands, "they…they weren't all causalities caused by Fate's random and cruel sadism."

They sat in silence, only broken moments later by Zero's raspy whisper, "My parents?"

A moment of silence passed, in time Kaien nodded and murmured "The President took a bribe to make sure they were the one's to hunt down Shizuka's lover, it's likely their resulting deaths were part of somebody's plan, I-I'm sorry Zero." Zero remained immobilized where he sat, hair veiling his eyes, and Kaname watched as a few drops of some ethereal, clear liquid fell upon and rolled down Zero's folded hands, leaving glossy trails in their wake.

The three sat in silence, Kuran's attention so fixated on Zero with a blend of awe and pity that it was several minutes before he realized he had stopped breathing and shakily started again. Kaname was dumbfounded by the tragic and frail beauty that currently composed Zero, but he felt unexpected internal nudge gurgling up within him to comfort and embrace the hunter; to hold him close and spread some warmth into his frozen form.

Zero started, when he felt a hand upon his shoulder, and promptly shook it off, wiping his face with his shirt sleeve and straightening up, remembering Kuran's presence. "Do you know who was responsible?" Zero asked, gripping the armrest of the chair in an attempt at self restraint.

"Zero, from what we understand he was able to influence and manipulate the former President, at least two purebloods, and potentially more, we…" Cross let out a long sigh, "we are taking this slowly, trying to avoid errors and loss of life. We don't yet know all of the pieces in play and I won't risk the innocent Zero."

The sound of straining wood gave way to that of splintering as the arms of Zero's chair were destroyed by his grasping for something solid in his crumbling reality. Cursing Zero brought his hands up to seek refuge in his hair as he tried to keep from going into a fit of rage or sorrow in front of Kuran and Kaien. "Why the hell…?" Zero clamped his eyes shut, trying to remain intelligible, "Why am I here now?" Zero finally managed, eyes opening, a violent determination awoken in them. "What action can I take right now to fuck up the bastard's 'game'?"

"Train," was Cross's simple answer, he got up, striding towards, then kneeling in front of Zero, doing his best to look him in the eye. "Train with Kaname, so that when you meet him, you won't fall under his spell. When you meet him, you can avenge those he has in the past and would in the future destroy. Train Zero, for now, that is what you can do."

Zero meet Cross's eyes, and for a few minutes he did not move, he was searching, Kaien's face and his own mind, trying to find something, a shred of enlightenment on which he could cling. Finally when he opened his mouth he admonished Cross, "you shouldn't have told me in front of Kuran."

"My apologies to both of you, it is hard to think clearly sometimes given the circumstances, but I need both of you together in this. You both need to know why I called you hear, and the full extent of relevant information for the time being. Yagari is continuing to research and find more information, as am I, but Kaname-kun I will need your help, and Zero I will need your cooperation and patience. Please," Cross started adjusting himself so he was on his knees, facing both of them, before bowing his forehead to the ground "I beg you to trust me and help each other."

"Sure," Kaname answered, tone casual, "but first, tell me who you believe is the other pureblood?"

"Excuse me?" Kaien asked, slight relief but greater confusion showing on his face.

"You said this pureblood we are to be training against, he manipulated at least two purebloods. I assume you mean Shizuka to be one, who is the other?"

"Rido, he was used to set the entire play into motion and give Shizuka motive."

While Kuran remained silent, imbibing this new information, Zero took a chance to speak, "so you're saying that someone talked Rido into moving Shizuka's lover up the execution list, to distance himself from the plot, which would ultimately cause Shizuka to kill my parents? But despite the effort to play others into doing the killing, he incriminates himself by bribing the president directly?"

"No Zero, there was a very long arduous trail to find out the source of the bribe, and only because of interviews with the surviving Council members were we able to corroborate any connection between him and Rido, this man has nearly mastered the game. But small things gave him away. Those he sent to bribe the president had nothing to gain from your parents' death, if anything it was a loss. And Rido had no definitive motive to drive Shizuka into madness; in fact he had more to gain from drinking her dry, which he could have gotten away with because of the Council's support. But it was Rido's obsessive lust for the Kuran women that led him to be easily manipulated. And that is how this man attacks, through peoples weaknesses, their obsessions."

"So it's not over," Kiryu mumbled to himself.

"I'm sorry Zero," Cross repeated.

Zero nodded, despondent for only a few seconds before turning to Kuran, "when can you start training?"

Distressed that a Kuran had fallen prey to this other purebloods game, felt the same need for immediate action bubbled inside him. Besides, this recent development could put Yuki back in danger. "I've already been excused tonight, so let's use the remainder of our time wisely. Cross-san, when are the new hunters arriving?"

"In two days."

"After they arrive, on the alternating days when you do not have prefect duties you will be training with me."

Zero's eyebrows quirked at the command, but he bit back a retort and simply nodded. He could antagonize Kuran later during training, now the logistics needed to be established.

"Good, I have a place for you two to practice without anyone noticing. Zero-rin, I am also asking that you move back into this house permanently. That way you can come home on days your not patrolling hours earlier than Kaname-kun and it won't be as obvious about that you two are interacting. As Kuran assumed before, we need to keep it secret."

Reluctantly, Zero agreed. "So where is this training area?"

Kaien nodded, a grim satisfaction at the cooperation of the two youths, despite the current circumstances. "Follow me."

Kiaen rose, and headed for the door followed by Zero and lastly Kuran. Travelling down the dimly lit hallways, down two sets of stairs and into the basement of the building, Cross finally stopped in front of a solid metal door. But all the while Kuran remained distracted as the faint-hidden, mouth-watering smell he had detected earlier persisted to taunt him. He was inhaling deeply and slowly found that it was coming from one of the men in front of him. When they abruptly stopped, he found himself uncharacteristically close to Kiryu, and coincidentally the source of that tantalizing scent.

"If you see anything with eyes while training in here, with the exception of each other and myself, of course, then kill it," Cross commanded, slightly revealing his roots as a legendary hunter.

Though baffled by the command both nodded, before Cross opened the door, allowing them inside. Fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling, revealing windowless concrete walls and a chilly cement floor halfway covered by sparring mats.

"Oh, and before I forget, there are clothes to change into on the mats and a shower down the hall, use the spare clothes during your training, and afterwards shower. If things get bloody tell me, I'll take care of everything, but please, try not to kill each other." Kaien finally ended, giving both of them an exhausted and desperate look before closing the metal door behind him, and heading upstairs for bed.

Both of them remained unmoving for a moment. Then Zero turned and headed for the clothes on the mat, removing his tie and folding it as he walked. After placing his tie in his pocket Zero undid his jacket shrugging out of it and placing it neatly on the mats next to his workout clothes, then undoing his holster, before starting to unbutton his shirt.

Thus when Kuran finally turned from the shut door, he was met by the sight of Zero peeling off his white collared shirt to reveal the lustrous expanse of smooth pale skin hugging the tight, hard muscles of Zero's back. As Zero neatly folded his shirt and bent to place it on his jacket, Kaname could see Zero's muscles shifting exotically against each other, alluding to nude forms under creamy silk sheets. Slowly Kaname realized that for the second time within the last hour he had forgotten to breath.

Zero eyed Kuran from where he bent over his training clothes, swiping up his shirt as he turned to face Kaname, giving the latter a view of Zero's firmly toned stomach and pectorals before he pulled a t-shirt over his head.

"Oi, Kuran, aren't you changing?"

Kuran blinked once; the only outwardly visible sign that he was just drawn from a trance. "You're just changing in this room?" Kaname inquired, trying to find an explanation for the unwelcomed impulses he was starting to feel, accompanied by the sudden heat he felt spreading throughout his body: his face, his racing heart, his stomach, and just south of it.

Zero looked at Kaname questioningly, "We're both guys Kuran, what's the problem?" While Zero was talking his hands slide to his belt and Kaname's eyes followed, before the hunter could even start to unbuckle it, Kuran was next to Zero holding still his hands.

"Zero, do yourself a favor, don't change clothes in front of anyone again." As Kuran said this, he questioned judgment, and froze. Kiryu's aroma, possessing that underlying hint which had teased him, sang to him in its mockingly beautiful voice, since he first sensed it, now enveloped him. And to further break Kuran's resolve his hands, clasping Kiryu's, could feel the warmth of from the hunter bleed into him, inviting him closer, drumming within him the need to feel more of that rich heat.

Luckily, Zero broke the spell, "What the hell Kuran?" Zero managed to disentangle himself from the pureblood's grasp, as splinters of red flecked his lavender irises. Zero retreated a few steps from Kuran, holding his breath, walking over towards one of the cool concrete walls and leaning against them. Shutting his eyes and leaning his head back into the wall, unintentionally giving Kaname a full view of his graceful neck, Zero regained his calm.

"Kuran, why are you here?"

"Your thirsty," Kuran noted absently, "I thought you said the thirst subsided…until recently," Kuran corrected himself, remembering the conversation he had overheard between Yuki and Zero.

"You didn't answer my question Kuran," Zero deadpanned, not enjoying the turn of the conversation, especially as it left his question unanswered, but Kuran just held his gaze.

Eventually Zero relented. "We're wasting time with this Kuran."

"Answer my question Kiryu."

"The day you and Yuki came back, my hunger returned. That's why I left the meeting prematurely."

Kuran nodded, he shouldn't be surprised, the Kuran blood was sweet, and every other time they interacted it was outdoors, where their scents could be diluted.

"So why are you here Kuran?" Zero repeated.

"You're not being very specific Zero."

"Why did you agree to train? I was your chess piece last time, I am not so naïve as to think this time I won't be used again."

Kuran shut his eyes, Zero didn't trust him, and truthfully Kiryu was rightly skeptical.

"Is it just that you finally get a pass to torment me while acting righteous. What is it Kuran?" despite Zero's words, his tone was weak. Zero recoiled at his own weakness, he had spent the past months trying to achieve some sort of inner strength, and it had been working. That is until the Kuran's returned, the new students showed up haunting his waking dreams of being attacked, he was told that his parents were not yet avenged, and had been thrust into trusting his current sanity and future safety to a vampire who despised him. A vampire who would be inclined to let him live only because Yuki might be upset otherwise.

Kaname's eye's shot open at the suggestion; admittedly, a few months back Kiryu's accusations would be spot on. But this was a new start, this was a new Zero that Kuran was getting to know, and Kuran felt an undeniable desire to be accepted by the beautiful hunter. So he answered, "It is a possibility that whomever wishes to possess you Kiryu, has plans of turning you against purebloods as a weapon, since your reputation proceeds you. Thus it is imperative that you train to overcome possession."

"You could just kill me," Zero suggested. "Spare yourself the trouble."

"That isn't an option Kiryu. And despite what you may think, I am not solely here to torment you; I am here to make you stronger. You are of no use as a weak mess." Kuran realized his words lacked finesse as soon as they left his mouth, but unexpectedly to Kuran, Zero smiled.

Zero had been telling himself that for the past month, he was no good to anyone when he was weak. He needed to become stronger so that he could start helping others, instead of just devouring them like he had Yuki, like he had Ichiru. No, he would be stronger, he would give back. He would use the strength he had gained from being a monster to make this world better. He would repent of his past mistakes and instead protect those others would harm. He would let go of the past and move towards a new future. But the irony of his past rival reminding him of his intentions for the future was not lost on the young hunter.

"You're right," Zero admitted. Then getting up from his place on the wall Zero walked towards Kuran, "this may be foolish," he continued "but let's leave the past where it belongs." Zero strode past the pureblood, bending to pick up a pair of sweatpants left for him. Then walking towards the door, "We should at least try to trust each other Kuran," Zero stated opening the squeaky door, "otherwise that will end up being our greatest weakness." Zero caught the handle, closing the door with a quiet click, preventing him from seeing the smile that his words brought to the purebloods lips.

Yes, Kuran found himself wanting to trust the hunter, and gain his trust in return, a first for the pureblood.

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><p>AN: So this chapter pushed forward with where the plot is heading, and I hope that the little taste of a KanaZero moment was enough for now, and will wet your appetite for the next chapter. I feel that what I post is inadequate for you readers, so PLEASE tell me what you think, critiques _are_ welcome because I want to get better for you guys. If anything is confusing in the wording please tell me, or if you don't like the way I did something, please also tell me.

Also I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed thus far,

Lolyou, Jennypoo, kanze4ever, catcatcat, TheSneakyHobo (great name by the way), irmina, DemonVampireGoddess, jelloisawesome263622, ben4kevin, Felixia, LuanRina, iBunnyxD, Naruta13, PeachyP73, Brookie cookie17, Art-sinisterika, Jiggary, White Wolf 64 KEG, lili974WOLF, Akane Rosery, kitty tokyo uzumaki, ShinYuu-tachi, tiffanybane, bloody child, Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai, frozenspring, Insanity-Red, PandaGaaraInsomniac9, and yuio10

Thank you so much for your reviews, they are what give me enough confidence and motivation to keep this story going; without your interest it would still be stuck in my head.

Also Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai, White Wolf 64 KEG, TheSneakyHobo, ben4kevin, iBunnyxD, LuanRina, catcatcat, and yuio 10 Thank you for your encouraging words about my OC's.

Hope all who read enjoy and please review.


	5. The Headache

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knights or its characters.

This chapter is a rollercoaster so hope you enjoy the ride.

Knuckles rapped on the metal door, echoing down the hallway along with Zero's voice, "You done?"

"Come in Kiryuu."

It had taken Kiryuu only a few seconds to finish changing clothes; as soon as he was in the hallway he'd dropped his trousers and slipped on the sweatpants. He wasn't inhibited by modesty, mostly because he thought of his body as only a body, still not aware that his exposed flesh would illicit any sort of enticement. In actuality Zero himself was unused to even looking at others' fleshy forms, as in the past, bare-skin usually either triggered his bloodlust, or had him noting the unappealing anemic appearance of his wiry, pubescent male peers in the boy's communal dorm bathroom. Thus it surprised Zero slightly when he opened the door to a partially-clothed Kuran and he felt a light heat flirting with his cheeks.

Kuran's torso was far from the acne-ridden, underdeveloped bodies of Zero's classmates; it was that of a man in his twenties, as opposed to his teens. His skin was spotless and his musculature was full but not unnecessarily bulky; broad shoulders were laced with overlapping lean muscles which weaved further down his back and over his sides towards his unrevealed abdomen.

"Hypocrite," Zero murmured, slipping into slightly childish behavior because of his current discomfort. He kept his eyes downcast as Kaname finished pulling the t-shirt on and turned to face him. So-what if Kuran wasn't going through puberty like everyone else Zero knew, that didn't make Kuran special, just old.

"Excuse me?" Kuran inquired, noticing the chaste kiss of a blush that tinted Zero's cheeks. Kuran was well aware of his hypocrisy, it was intentional. While Zero had been in the hallway, Kuran began flexing his aura and his powers while changing clothes. This included accessing Kiryuu's central nervous system to stimulate the release of adrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin, the ingredients for attraction. He was going to train Kiryuu to overcome his susceptibility to possession, but in order to do so with the greatest efficacy he needed to know Zero's weaknesses first.

A frontal assault could happen abruptly, but seduction was a slow process. Done correctly, the prey wouldn't realize they were ensnared until it was too late. Unlike fighting the opponents will, or weakening it through deprecation, seduction caused the intended doll to slowly submit to the puppeteer, and sometimes had a few pleasant perks along the way. Not that Kuran had previously ever been inclined to have personal experience with said perks.

Zero's eyes came up to meet Kuran's, and he felt another surge of happy hormones. _What the heck?_ His faced flushed a bit deeper, but he did his best to ignore his suddenly uncooperative body, "Not important, let's start."

Kaname felt an unbidden spike of heat flow through him, knowing he had induced Zero's delectably flustered appearance. It was odd for Kuran's body to react feverishly towards anyone, thus it was almost disconcerting to find Kiryuu so undeniable. Previously, he had found Zero attractive, but a rival. However, during the past month Zero had changed, not only in his character, but also physically, his scent for instance and something in his aura was highly compelling. If Zero had smelt so delectable the last time Kuran gave him blood, when Zero's own blood was split, Kaname would have probably attacked Kiryuu.

"Kiryuu, when did your scent start changing?"

"I wasn't aware that it had," Zero replied, slight panic causing his voice to hitch. _Where were these feelings coming from?_

"Of course," it was a foolish question to ask Kiryuu, but definitely something to ask Takuma later. Regardless, it was going to be a considerably wearisome task to 'fake' seduce Kiryuu, without falling prey to Zero's own innate and accidental provocative magnetism.

"And as far as you considering me a hypocrite, there is a difference between my changing in front of you and you changing in front of me Kiryuu, or _anyone_ else for that matter, my advice is solely for your safety."

Zero's eyebrow quirked, not really comprehending what Kuran was trying to imply, but he continued. "How should we start training Kuran?"

Kuran allowed himself to smile at Zero's insistence, and the slight obliviousness Zero showed to the influence he was already under. "We begin by assessing your natural strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the different types of weakening one's will."

"Are you referring to the mental assault and incited self-loathing techniques?"

"You're forgetting seduction Kiryuu," Kaname gently reminded, taking a few sinuous steps towards Zero, his demeanor whispering promises of pleasure, which would make anyone else weak in the knees.

Hunter instinct pushed Zero backwards, where he connected with the metal door. Subconsciously, Zero noted that there always seemed to be some sort of massive barrier between him and retreat whenever a vampire caught that look in their eyes. Consciously, he was mortified by the heat which had begun pulsing through his body and made his brain function fuzzy. "I didn't forget, I just thought… wait," Zero broke eye contact, turning his head away from Kuran's smoldering gaze. The flush attempted to take up permanent residence on Zero's lovely smooth cheeks, while confusion sat upon his brow. If this was part of his training Zero would overcome it. However, what if Kuran hadn't caused this? it would be sure humiliation to openly admit his current heated state to the pureblood. Breathing heavily through his lightly parted tingling lips Zero finally resolved to ask a less condemning question. "How exactly would someone counter being seduced?" he cringed slightly, realizing how stupid he sounded, and noticing that he actually cared what Kuran thought of him.

"Resolution," Kuran replied a slight smirk gracing his features. Kaname's resolution was quickly crumbling at seeing Zero's strength being sweetly undone by his virgin-soul's embarrassment of its own sensuality. So Kaname forced himself to remain frozen, at the threat of giving into his desire to feel Zero's elegant taunting neck or lust-plumped lips beneath his own sensitized mouth.

Zero remained still against the wall, chest swelling and falling with each highly controlled breath. But after a few seconds Zero abruptly straightened and turned back towards Kaname, with nothing but a slight glint of a well-ingrained pain in his eyes. "You're Yuuki's," Zero stated flatly, quickly dousing Kaname's flame.

_You've found resolution for the both of us, Kiryuu._ Kuran stood still, almost no noticeable changes in his appearance, but for the light that went out of his eyes and the slightest tinge of guilt seeping into his aura. "Very good Kiryuu, you have managed to focus your will. Let us move on towards a mental assault."

Zero diverted his gaze, crossing his arms over his chest, back still leaning on the closed door. "Kuran, would you not tell Yuuki?"

Kaname was confused, though his face showed no signs of it, wondering at first if Kiryuu felt guilt for his _artificially _inspired lust, which began to further stir some convoluted caustic emotion within Kuran's gut. "Be more specific Kiryuu."

"About the new threat, I don't want Yuuki to get involved," Zero stated, his quiet voice laden with concern.

Understanding flooded Kaname; _of course_, Yuuki in all her intended goodness, would likely try to get involved if she new Zero's life was being haunted. And in her attempts at problem-solving, she would likely endanger herself, causing pain to the both of them. However, something in Kuran's sensibilities was irked by Zero's continued concern for Yuuki, part of it being that Kiryuu's words indirectly implied lack of foresight on Kuran's part, the other perhaps larger portion was opaque. "I hadn't been intending to Kiryuu."

Zero's eyes once again caught Kuran's, and appeared to be searching for something in their depths. After apparently finding that something, Zero nodded and pushed off the wall and walked towards Kuran, "then let's continue."

Partway from the wall, Zero froze, gaze turning to glower as he looked as Kaname. "Zero, I am not used to other's telling me what to do," Kuran's voice remained monotone. Kaname knew he was misplacing his anger, perhaps even simply trying to redirect his earlier adrenaline from lust into a new outlet in anger, but it was also necessary. Handling Kiryuu in training had to be his utmost priority, and since anger seemed to be effectively clearing his lust-drugged head he would utilize it.

With strained efforts Zero continued forward, sarcasm beginning to drip into his tone "did I offend you or are you trying to help me train?"

"Both," was the simple reply.

Struggling, Zero finally neared Kuran, his own temper finally beginning to ignite, fueled by his latent emotions from the day's events. With cynicism soaking his every word Zero pressed, "Forgive me for not coddling your ego in the interest of time."

As soon as the words escaped his lips, Zero collapsed to his knees on the ground, clutching at his head, with a short scream, abruptly cut off by his grinding teeth. Well, at least they were training again.

"This is a mental assault," Kuran monotoned, belying the effort he was putting into his mental battle with Kiryuu. He was in a sense in Kiryuu's head, but not in his mind where his memories and soul dwelled. "A pureblood can stimulate the pain sensors in neurons, or the release of certain hormones. But every individual has a certain level of control over their own mental capacity. To enter into the actual mind requires an emotional connection: either through being a D's creator, taking blood, empathy, or willing submission. This is how a level D is claimed Kiryuu. And after the mind is accessed it is up to the captor to release the level D. The only way to overcome it is-"

Kiryuu began pushing himself up from the ground, "resolution, right?" conviction settled in his eyes, even though his voice was strained.

"Correct," Kuran stated, his misplaced anger having already died at the sight of Kiryuu crumpling to his knees and quickly turning to slight admiration, personally aware of the significant pain Kiryuu was in currently.

As Zero finally made it to his feet straightening to his full height, abruptly, the pain evaporated.

"You will need to be stronger. If you are incapacitated, even briefly, you'll be easier to attack."

Zero stayed still, eyes closed and head swimming with dizzying relief. His anger evaporated in a mix of exhaustion and relief, "Two questions."

Kaname examined Zero, again feeling drawn towards the other, but also feeling a sting of guilt for his assault. "Yes?"

"Is there a way to prevent mental assault? And secondly, why didn't Rido use it?"

"To assault someone's mind takes control and understanding of that individual's hormonal glands and pain sensors within that moment of time. So it becomes increasingly difficult to attack someone who is moving rapidly, or without devoting one's full concentration. Thus if you are fighting a pureblood, or they are otherwise distracted the mental attack will likely be significantly weakened."

A small smile graced Zero's features, as began to stretch his arms and back, "so if I can attack them first…"

"Depending on the individual, you may have an advantage." Kuran agreed trying to remain uninterested as Zero stretched his supple body, muscles lightly flexing.

"As for Rido, he mostly relied on his physical fighting expertise and less on mental manipulation. This is largely a product of our lineage. Each line of vampires has varying powers. Some vampires are innately more gifted in the art of mental manipulation and possession then others, though all purebloods are capable of it." Kuran stopped briefly as Zero began stretching his hamstrings keeping with one knee bent, his shirt creeping tauntingly up he extended his arm towards his toes.

"So the Kuran line isn't inclined towards possession?" Zero asked, at the moment not caring if he annoyed Kuran or not, as pain would be his new teacher, and he'd always been a bright student.

"No, it is just a less necessary tool for our line, and don't assume that Rido's strength is similar to mine. In the past some lineages of purebloods were seen as possessing greater strength and status, with the Kuran lineage being the last remaining pureblood line of this highest caliber.

"The other lines died out?" Zero asked, curiosity shining intently in his eyes.

"In a manner of speaking, the strength of a line depends on the power given by the ancestor's existence. Once the ancestor has died, the line splits and weakens."

"Then you're the last remaining ancestor," Zero stated, eyes getting slightly larger. Shit.

Kuran found the wide-eyed Zero highly endearing, especially while looking up at him through thick dark lashes from where he was crouching. However, he was also well aware of the large target that had just been placed on his head. "That doesn't leave the room Kiryuu, for Yuuki's sake," Kaname added for safety insurance.

Zero just nodded once and went back to stretching.

"Because our line remains the strongest, vampires are more likely to grovel and be easily seduced without the need for any sort of manipulation. Thus, Rido never developed his potential, as manipulation requires practice. However, other pureblood lines are more dependent on developing their mental control over others, even if it is not innate, to keep the vampires surrounding them attentive to their every whim. It is likely even our peers have greater skills in mental manipulation than Rido."

Zero straightened, making eye contact with Kuran. "Good to know, shall we start again?" Zero inquired, a hint of mirth lightening his features.

"You intend to spar with me, physically and mentally?" Kuran's eyebrow quirked, well aware of what Zero's earlier stretching implied.

"Seems more realistic"

"I haven't finished my assessment yet Kiryuu."

Zero shrugged, then quickly rushed the pureblood.

By four in the morning, the adrenaline fueling Zero's determination began to wear off, and his mental and physical strength slowly succumbed to fatigue. His body was beginning to ache from the way he was being thrown around, and the strength his own muscles exerted in the few times he had been able to overcome the pureblood. Additionally, it had been painful to mentally fight off Kuran, even though Zero was suspect as to whether the pureblood was actually using his full strength, or just trying to gauge Zero's current level of willpower.

However, it was Kaname who ultimately ended their session, simply noting that "it would be pointless to continue [with Zero so] exhausted." While Zero sulked off to the showers looking at his fatigue as weakness and failure, Kaname was actually significantly impressed with the young hunter's willpower and strength.

By quarter to five Zero had collapsed in his bed to get a couple hours of much needed sleep before class, and Kuran was once again in the Moon Dorms being bombarded with questions about his disappearance and discussion with the chairman. When Kaname finally made it to his room, having dissuaded the suspicions of his peers, he splayed across the couch only lightly aware of the familiar presence.

"Apparently Zero left patrolling early tonight."

"Uhn."

"The Night Class seemed quite sad because of it," Yuuki prattled on, trying to lighten the mood, but it only seemed to be darkening Kaname's aura. Hesitating a moment Yuuki then questioned, "What's going on Onii-san?"

"I had a discussion with the chairman, nothing more." Kaname didn't move as Yuuki ghosted across the room to perch herself carefully on the small empty segment of the couch, near Kaname's waist.

"About what in particular?" Yuuki pressed, "Nothing's happened to Zero, has it?"

Kaname removed the hand shielding his eyes and tipped his head to gaze at Yuuki. He was remorseful for forgetting her in the heady lust that Kiryuu emanated; more-so he was slightly unnerved to have never lost himself to desire when in Yuuki's presence the way he had with Kiryuu. But it nonetheless frustrated him that she seemed so insistent in talking about that very same vampire at the moment. "There's a new pureblood coming tomorrow and the chairman was informing me about him. It is likely he will come while we are still asleep, so the chairman wanted specific instructions on introducing him to the Moon Dorm." It was all true, while waiting for _Zero_ they had discussed it.

Yuuki smiled at him, though it didn't reach her eyes, he was keeping something from her, "oh and who is the new student?"

"Kiyomizu, he is arriving late because he was mourning, his older brother was killed."

Yuuki posture went rigid and her wide eyes held a note of panic. "Why? Who killed him?"

"Apparently the brother went rogue and turned half the nearby city into level D's, so the Hunter's Association stepped in."

"And he is still coming?"

"At this point, the family needs to save face; it is considered a peace offering between them and the Hunter's Association."

Yuuki fell silent for a short while, "Zero knows?"

Unease slithered into Kuran's stomach again, "I assume he was told."

"Oh." Yuuki looked down at her folded hands. "Onii-san you would…you would tell me if something was going to happen to Zero right?"

Apparently, Unease was venomous, for Yuuki's questions were beginning to burn like acid in his ears. Kaname was physically and mentally exhausted after sparing with Zero for hours. He was feeling guilt for a myriad of different reasons, one of the primary sources being Yuuki. But apart from that, he had spent the last ten years loving her from afar, trying to keep her safe for goodness sakes, and yet all she seemed to care about was _Kiryuu_. Kuran felt his control slipping, "I think you should leave."

Yuuki froze, knowing she must have said something wrong, very rarely had he requested her absence, but each time it just drew her further into the knowledge of her own failings as a pureblood, and as a future lover.

There was disconnect between them, the disparity between their levels of worth that had been obvious to Yuuki from the beginning. Despite her efforts and attempts to be strong, when she was with Kaname her resilience weakened, and her delicate heart seemed easy to bruise. Sometimes it seemed all she could focus on was her inadequacy. And thus she fell into step with her brother, building up barriers instead of helping one another break them down.

"I-I'm sorry," Yuuki began quickly getting up from her spot on the couch, and stepping back until she bumped into the coffee table, causing her to lose her balance.

In a flash Kaname stood and caught her up in his arms. _This _was the reason for Kaname's barrier. Yuuki was quick to get upset and wounded, and easily lost track of the greater picture because of what was immediately in front of her, both literally and figuratively. He cared for her dearly, but _he_ was not suited to handle anything so precious or fragile. And so, he did his best to shield her from his inadequacy, his inability to be constantly gentle; _after all, I am merely a beast in human form_.

"Yuuki…"

"I…I am sorry for upsetting you." Yuuki stated tears coming to her eyes, as she tried to pull herself from her brother's embrace.

Kuran shifted so that she wouldn't fall back onto the table and then released her.

Yuki didn't even look up at Kaname as she took a couple of steps back, and quickly strode out of the room. Again, Kaname would force himself to listen to her choked sobs until sleep claimed her, as he had done so many nights since her awakening.

When Zero woke up, his muscles ached, his head hurt, and his stomach threw a fit. When Zero remembered his lucid and heated dreams of Kuran shirtless, his pride began to ache. But when Zero entered the classroom and his demonic aura repelled the normal rush of giggling Day Class students, suddenly the day didn't seem so bad. Classes passed, and Zero got some much needed sleep, until, during his last hour he was woken-up at the chairman's request.

"The new student is going to arrive soon," Cross said as he and Zero walked towards the Moon Dorms. "I think I should fill you in on a couple of things before we meet up with him."

Zero cast Cross a side-ways glance, obviously expecting him to continue.

"You see, he may not be as loving as all the other purebloods, in fact he might be out for blood," Kaien continued in a cheerful tone, taking a few steps before he realized Zero was no longer walking along-side him.

"And you're letting him on campus… near humans?" Zero's demonic aura began to engulf Kaien.

"No, no Zero," Cross tried to assure the disgruntled teen, "not human blood, hunter blood."

Oddly enough, Zero appeared to calm minutely, "and why exactly is he after my blood?"

"His brother was killed a week ago by hunter decree, because he was accused of turning half a city into level D's."

That got Zero's temper, "AND YOU'RE LETTING THAT BASTARD IN THIS SCHOOL." Had Cross been sitting behind his desk, it would be broken right now; perhaps the reason Cross had chosen the current location to tell him.

"_He_ didn't do anything, but he was apparently rather attached to his brother and still insisting on his innocence."

Again, Zero calmed minutely. "And you're telling me this now?"

"It is safer to have him at the Academy under our watch, then elsewhere. But so much has been happening lately." Kaien's cute demeanor turned serious on the last sentence, and Zero immediately bit back his next angry retort. A lot was happening, the school was barely just repaired and it already seemed to be falling back into the midst of chaos.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Zero mumbled quietly and Cross could, and did, cry from parental pride.

"My wonderful son!"

Zero side-stepped a hug, "but if he gets out of line-"

"Then report it to Kuran, but Zero, don't kill him. He is grieving the loss of a loved-one," Kaien stated, again serious.

Looking away from the chairman Zero whispered, "yeah, and so was Shizuka."

_Crap!_ "Zero this won't be a repeat of the past."

"You're right," _now I don't have anyone left to lose._ Cross and Zero remained silent as they walked the rest of the way to the Moon Dorms. And after a few minutes of waiting Zero could feel a chill tingle up his spine, he knew this feeling; a pureblood, with bared fangs.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. It is because of your lovely and much appreciated reviews that I continue writing this story, so THANK YOU!

LuanRina, my apologies for having Yuuki in such a large part of this chapter.

Also my apologies for taking so long to post this. Additionally, criticism is always welcome, make me a better writter. I _am_ willing to rework chapters if enough people are not satisfied with they way they turn out. And lastly how to people feel about minor pairings between VK originals and my OC's?

THANK YOU again for reading.


	6. The Brother

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knights or any of its characters.

**Recommended**: look up the two techniques on Youtube listed below:

[1] Tomoe Nage: Judo throw, which includes falling back and flinging one's opponent over their head.

[2] Rear Horse Kick: Tae Kwon Do kick

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><p>A black Rolls-Royce rolled up into the courtyard and a terrorized looking chauffeur quickly exited the vehicle only to have the rear-door fling into him as he reached for the handle, half knocking the poor man to the ground. White hands abruptly clamped on both sides of the open doorway as black-patent-leather shoes hit the cobblestone. The figure dragging himself out of vehicle's bowls and into the bleaching day sunlight looked like the walking dead, which depending on your definition of a vampire…. He wore what might have a few days ago been fashionable attire, but now was crumpled and his open shirt collar was askew. His night blue hair was in disarray and his eyes were completely red. Not in a brilliant bloodlust red, but red that indicated it was the natural hue of his irises, which bleed rather unnaturally into the rest of his eyes as a tribute to his state of mourning.<p>

"Kiyomizu-san welcome," the chairman began in his usual upbeat tone, but his eyes were on the driver, making sure the abused man was alright.

The disheveled pureblood's eyes locked onto Cross, "you're of hunter blood, aren't you?" his voice raspy from either disuse or overuse.

Kaien turned his attention fully onto the pureblood, but could feel the tears begin when Zero slipped elegantly in front of him, sheltering him from the haggard vampire view. It was an action that spoke more eloquently than words that Zero finally considered Kaien family, or at least important, maybe.

"He's an ex-hunter," Zero spoke; his voice remained steady, despite the knots twisting in his stomach. This aura was so similar to hers, the sorrow and unbridled desire for a different type of bloodlust, revenge.

"And you're the famous Kiryuu boy," Kiyomizu spat, voice still ragged, "the infamous pureblood hunter." Kiyomizu slowly began his approach, like a feral cat stalking up to its prey. "Do you enjoy it Kiryuu? Ending the life of someone prematurely? Does it make you feel powerful to mock immortality?" By the end of his taunts he stood squarely in front of the hunter a few steps away.

Zero's gun-hand twitched, calling to Bloody Rose. "Only beasts enjoy killing."

Within a split second a pained cry ripped from Kiyomizu's throat as he launched himself at Zero. Instinctively, Zero reached for the pureblood's lapels, swinging up a foot into the pureblood's stomach, while falling back and using the both his and the pureblood's momentum to fling the bereaved creature over his head, in Tomoe Nage style.[1] As soon as his back hit the ground Zero rolled into a kneeling position while simultaneously drawing Bloody Rose and aiming at the vampire already crouched and ready to pounce.

Kiyomizu's eyes quickly flashed between Bloody Rose and the chairman, a crazed fear radiating from him. Then he dove to the side, leapt over the fence and ran into the woods.

It took Zero a moment to register that the pureblood fled, but that moment was already gone, and Zero sprang to his feet heading after him. When Zero had landed on the other side of the fence and took off running into the woods, he could hear Cross yell after him "Zero, remember the butter-knife."

Cross stood staring after them.

"I don't think a butter-knife will do Kiryuu much good."

Kaien jumped, turning to find Kuran in slacks and sports coat, with _no_ accompanying shirt underneath. His rather appealing attire tattled of Kaname's hastiness in dressing, after being woken from his slumber by the sounds of a fight.

"Kaname-kun when did you get there?" Kaien said smiling while recovering from the sudden panic attack.

"Why didn't you stop them?"

"Wha?" Cross eyed Kaname a little skeptically, did he detect a hint of concern in Kuran's voice? Kaien's smile broadened. "I trust Zero to be able to take care of himself Kaname-kun."

"I will go and make sure things don't get out of hand," Zero was probably still exhausted from last nights training. Kaname took a step forward only to be blocked by Cross's outstretched arm.

"Kuran, if you must go just watch, but do not interfere until the matter is settled." Kaien's gaze focused on the forest, then he quietly whispered, "This needs to happen. If we are all to survive, Zero's needs to…." Cross turned back towards Kaname, reverting to his usual blissfully ignorant façade. Then Cross looked suddenly slightly petrified, peeling his hand off of the exposed skin of Kaname's chest. "Kaname-kun I think that you should consider the dress code." But Kuran's raised brow silenced any further protest.

Kaien turned his attention back towards the utterly befuddled chauffeur, who appeared to be becoming more confused by the moment as Cross approached him. "Hello there, I am the chairman, would you mind following me to Kiyomizu-san's room."

The poor vampire just scanned his surroundings, as if expecting something to pop up out of nowhere, as he clung to the car for support. A few seconds later he became more aware of his setting and of the question he had just been asked. He nodded once, then went to the rear of the car and got out the some luggage, following the chairman into the Moon Dorms like a lost child.

Kaname watched them go, and briefly debated whether to follow, when an intoxicating scent hit him. It was the scent that had coyly teased him last night, while he trained Zero, and it was unmistakably infused with a divine aroma of blood. The blood decided for him, and into the woods he followed.

* * *

><p>It took Zeroless than a minute to catch up to Kiyomizu, since the latter had turned to face him as soon as he deemed them far enough from the Moon Dorms.<p>

"Aren't you being a little arrogant, following me into the woods _alone_?"

"Did you think I wouldn't follow?" Zero questioned, his voice lethally low, as his hunter and vampire senses screeched of the threat in front of him. Zero began to circle the perimeter, slowly edging closer to the pureblood, but remembering to stay in motion to avoid having the vampire literally screw with his head. He clutched tightly to Bloody Rose, not yet sure whether he was going to use it.

"To the contrary, I was counting on it. After all, by birth you are an executioner. Your very lineage revels in the blood of my kind." Kiyomizu paused for a brief moment, "or should I say _our_ kind."

A soft growl escaped Zero, but he did his best to refrain from falling for the bait. Whether or not his pride was wounded, he had to find a solution. Zero slipped Bloody Rose back into its holster. Whatever the damned thing said didn't matter; he was very clearly grieving the loss of his brother and something in the pureblood's self-destructive sorrow struck a cord in Zero's heart. After all, Kuran had devoted ten years to protecting family. If nothing else, pureblood's valued their own. "You were close."

The pureblood's eyes narrowed in suspicion as they tracked the Hunter.

"How old was he?" Zero questioned.

"Why the hell should I tell you?" Kiyomizu seethed. "It's not like you give a damn. You're just like every other shithead hunter; killing our kind on compulsion, blaming the death of those weak creatures on the first vampire that crawls into your view."

Zero was steadily getting closer, not exactly sure what he would do upon reaching said pureblood. He tried to keep a level-head, but could not refrain completely. "My parents were not weak. And I witnessed them being slaughtered," Zero's voice shook slightly, "by the fangs of a pureblood."

Kiyomizu's eyes widened for a brief moment, as a look of horror and sorrow passed his features, before narrowing again as the pureblood tried to cling to his anger. "But your parents were murderers, my brother was _innocent_."

"Your brother is responsible for ending the lives of half a city," Zero growled, his anger once again beginning to ignite.

That was it, Kiyomizu wanted to hit something, and right now the hunter would do nicely. Kiyomizu charged Zero, aiming his fist in a right hook. It was met by Zero's right palm as Zero quickly sidestepped bringing the pureblood's fist behind him. Mid-punch, when Kiyomizu realized his first hit wasn't going to land, he began to twist into a Rear Horse Kick, his left calf making contact with the side of Zero's ribs.[2] A faint cracking noise accompanied the kick, but Zero brought his left arm to clamp down on Kiyomizu's leg, holding it to himself, despite to pain of squishing it into his abused side.

The pureblood growled, struggling to free himself from the hunter's grip. "Even if he was responsible for _turning_ half a city," Kiyomizu paused his struggles for a second, grinding his teeth in frustration, "he didn't kill them as you say."

Mentally that caught Zero off-guard, _what the hell is this guy thinking? That being a level D didn't promise certain death?_

In that split second of distraction Kiyomizu finally managed to yank his arm free. Twisting his torso to face Zero, Kiyomizu slashed a taloned hand across Zero's face, drawing blood.

Zero resisted the immediate urge of bringing his hand to his face, in favor of securing the pureblood's wrist.

Kiyomizu stood frozen, eyes locked onto Zero's bloodied face. Zero took advantage of the pureblood's temporary paralysis, taking a step forward and sweeping out the pureblood's last support, with his left leg, so when they fell Zero still held the winded pureblood in a hold against the ground. Quickly, Zero switched his position, and flipped the pureblood so that he pinned Kiyomizu by straddling his waist, and had both hands free to secure the pureblood's wrists with his hands.

"Do you even know what the hell it means for a person to be turned?" Zero screamed, adrenaline coursing quickly through his body. When Zero finally looked at his captive he was met the glowing red eyes of bloodlust. Not a good sign.

"Enlighten me," Kiyomizu stated, transfixed with the fluid flowing from the right side of Zero's face. A few drops landing on the pureblood's face.

It creeped Zero out the way the pureblood was staring at his blood, this was new, he was a level D after all. But despite the minor distraction, Zero felt himself surging with emotion for the cause.

"Turning a human is their death sentence," Zero hissed.

That phrasing caught the pureblood's attention before he could even lick up the blood-drops, bringing his focus back to Zero's eyes, "Only because creature's like you kill them."

If Zero had less self control, the pureblood would have been able to escape from the shock that wracked Zero's mind. _What the hell?_ "Human's aren't meant to handle vampire toxins. At longest within a couple of months their brains deteriorate into madness and they become no better than rabid dogs, looking only for blood." Zero knew he was shouting, he knew he didn't need to, but at the moment it didn't matter, he was livid.

Surprisingly, Zero's shouting cut through the still looming blood-haze to the pureblood underneath him. He looked like he was trying to process this information, like this was all new to him. He looked puzzled, "so all those people…."

"Will go mad, and kill their neighbor's if they are not killed themselves." Zero stated, slowly coming down from his anger, but still firmly holding down the pureblood, and keeping careful track of his mind, making sure it wasn't being invaded.

Kiyomizu looked lost for a moment, his head turning to the side "We were never taught…," his voice faded. He paused for a moment, his eyes returning to Zero, "but you're an ex-human."

"Yeah, I'm a freak," Zero said with a slight tinged of self-deprecating humor.

The pureblood seemed to be thinking about something, "My brother, he's innocent, we didn't know…what happens …but my brother is innocent."

"How are you so sure?"

"He was a year younger than me." The pureblood stated, misery claiming all of his features. "He said he had something to show me, he … he was so proud of himself. I was supposed to meet him, but I came late because I-I was …. He went missing for the next few days; my parents locked me in the house. They wouldn't even let me go look for him. And when he returned, he couldn't remember…."

Zero looked at the pureblood, allowing a moment's pause sympathy inching into his eyes. Quietly, comfortingly Zero said "then find who's responsible. Clear his name. Find who framed him. And make them pay. But stop throwing yourself at the nearest hunter. It's just going to get you killed."

Kiyomizu tilted his head slightly, finally truly looking at the person pinning him. The hunter's silver hair was rimmed with a halo of light that shown through the canopy above. It seemed appropriate for this boy who was saving him. The boy's strength smoldered in his eyes, but it was different from the eyes of the strong, proud pureblood's Kiyomizu knew. It was born of something that the pureblood had never seen before, and he desired to know how the hunter had been graced with such a unique awe-inspiring presence. But the power his gaze and body held was belied by the elegance of his smooth porcelain skin and enviable beauty. Though it was now marred with blood, which really only heightened his appeal to the pureblood. _And its smell…it's to die for. _

The pureblood eyed the blood trailing down Zero's neck only to feel another drop of said blood land on his face. His tongue snaked out licking the blood off of his face. Instantly, the pureblood's body tensed under Zero, his eye's burned even brighter, and Zero could feel a certain part of the pureblood's male anatomy begin to stiffen underneath him.

Ignoring practicality, Zero immediately sprang off the pureblood. "What the fuck?"

"Perhaps not the best choice of words," Kuran stated. A death glare directed at the pureblood getting up off the ground. Thankfully Kiyomizu's sports jacket was long enough to cover his current 'problem'. Kaname felt a small surge of jealousy as he watched Kiyomizu lick the rest of blood from his hand and face, apparently relishing every drop.

"I must disagree, I think it fits the occasion perfectly," Sadayo-san smirked, coming into the clearing from the opposite side of Kuran.

"As always, I must agree with Hideaki-kun" Shiroyama stated in monotone, entering from a patch of trees between Kuran and Sadayo.

Zero felt like he was being cornered and began backing up, only to recognize the aura of another coming up behind him. As Zero turned, he saw the earth split a mere foot in front of where Kawakami was standing.

"Enough," Kaname was already next to Zero when he spoke, pulling the hunter behind him. For once, Zero didn't fight him. "I request that you all go back to your rooms."

"But my dear love is still bleeding," Kawakami pouted, he squatted next to the split in the earth, but his eyes were still on Zero.

"Kawakami," Kuran's voice was stern.

"Though, I guess that would let us all catch up with Kiyomizu-kun, wouldn't it. Ne, Kiyomizu-kun when did you decide to dye your hair?" Kawakami laughed prancing over towards the other pureblood. "You look like an anime character from one of Takuma's manga."

"Be quiet," Kiyomizu muttered, looking down at his shoes, while trying to shake Kawakami's arm from around his shoulder. Kawakami had always been a little too touchy-feely for his taste.

Sadayo ignored the two, instead heading towards Kuran; Shiroyama caught his arm as he walked past, though Sadayo opted to ignore her. "Kuran, I thought your attentions were focused on your sister. Surely, if you were devoted to her as you say, you wouldn't need to be with Zero alone," Sadayo drawled suggestively.

Kuran's eyes narrowed in disgust at Sadayo's behavior, but it was Zero who spoke first, stepping out from behind Kaname's back. "He's just trying to prevent a fight. Besides, I'm a guy, he wouldn't-"

"You think he wouldn't be interested in you, simply because you're a guy?" Sadayo interrupted. "Oh, my darling boy, you become more and more enchanting each time we meet. Not to mention," Sadayo began extending his hand towards Zero's face, only to have it be blocked by rather lethal looking Kaname. Sadayo looked a bit put out, but continued after a brief pause. "The scent of your blood is better than an aphrodisiac. But really Kuran, you've been attending this school how long, and you haven't even told the dear boy about what to expect after going through puberty."

"Kiryuu, is an ex-human," Kaname stated, though his calm was slightly giving way to anger.

"Nevertheless, he's unique, and I have seen pubescent humans, he doesn't look like them," Sadayo stated rather confidently. "He should know that most vampires are bi."

Zero again stepped out from behind Kaname's back. "Wait, what?"

"Most vampires are bisexual, darling, it is part of the reason why are population is able to maintain relatively low numbers. After all, it certainly isn't due to lack of …appetite," Sadayo smiled, a mischievous glint dancing in his eyes, as he took in Zero's flushed expression.

Well at least that explained his dreams last night.

"Also if one sex is predominating during a certain time, it prevents wars from breaking out," Kawakami chimed in. "My father always used to say 'A horny pureblood is a lethal pureblood.' Boy I miss the old man, he always had a way with words, ya know." Kiyomizu looked at him questioningly, but had given up on shaking the other pureblood off of him. "Ne, Kiyomizu-kun let's head back, it's about to get really crowded, and you could probably use some rest."

That's when Zero sensed it; there was a large presence of vampires entering the woods from the direction of the moon dorms.

"We'll be leaving," Kaname stated, grabbing Zero's wrist and dragging him towards the Chairman's quarters.

"Somebody needs to guard the Sun Dorms," Zero protested.

"They smelt your blood, Kiryuu. They will be after you," Kaname stated, still dragging Zero with him, not willing to discuss the matter.

"You're both right, Kuran being Dorm President you should go deal with the students, while I take care of dear little Kiryuu-kun," Sadayo stated.

Kuran sent Sadayo a glare, and Zero stopped his protest.

"Ah…Kuran I-I could use your help," Zero stated, a little forced.

A soft smile graced Kaname's features, "You see Sadayo-san your assistance would perhaps be better placed with our other peers." With that both Zero and Kuran turned towards the Chairman's house leaving a thoroughly pissed Sadayo and a stoic Shiroyama.

As soon as they left the clearing, Zero right hand came up to his left side cradling his bruised ribs. Kuran looked at him, "What happened?"

"It's nothing," Zero stated and continued walking towards the Chairman's house, more specifically toward its scent-proof cellar. That is until Zero found himself being swept up, into Kuran's arms. "What-"

But before Zero could protest further, Kaname reasoned, "The longer we take the more likely others are to catch up with us." Kuran had already started to run towards their destination. The pureblood didn't run often, but at this moment, he was using a significant amount of his speed. Zero's scent, especially with him pressed close against his chest, was messing with his logic senses. Sadayo hadn't been joking when he said Zero's scent was better than an aphrodisiac.

Zero barely had time to argue, before he was placed back on his feet. He fiddled with the lock on the outer door of the cellar, until Kaname eased his hand away, and there was an immediate click, as Kuran removed the small device. Kuran then held the door open for him. Zero eyed the pureblood as he descended into the cellar. Kaname followed in after him.

Once the cellar door was shut, the smell of Zero's blood only intensified, and Kuran found his eyes wandering to its origin.

Zero, meanwhile, had begun to feel his ribs, "Shit," it felt broken.

Kaname was instantly at Zero's side, his hands pressing deftly to Zero's side. Slowly, he peeled up the Zero's jacket and shirt to examine his injured ribs. It was a mistake. The blood drying on Zero's face and neck beckoned him with a siren's call. And his hand was still on soft skin that heated under his touch.

Zero's own breath hitched at the contact. He was a little panicked, figuring he must have passed out sometime, and this must all be another hormonal dream. A misconception that was only furthered when he felt hot breath on his neck, before the delicate press of Kuran's moist tongue cleaning up his blood.

Kuran continued to lick up Zero's neck, each small taste encouraging Kaname's urgency. When Zero's neck was clean, Kaname shifted his body closer, pressing into Zero, one of his hands still under Zero's shirt, while the other came up under Zero's chin and guided his head, giving Kaname access to more thoroughly lick the wound. Kaname could not resist but to suck lightly on the injury, hoping to get a little more of the mind altering, exquisite blood, which resulted in a short cry from Zero. The wound was sensitive. Kaname stopped his ministrations at looked to the origin of the noise, Zero's lips, which were now slightly parted in one of the most tempting displays Kaname had ever seen, full, flushed, and rich with the nectar of Zero's blood.

* * *

><p>AN: My apologies for ending here, but I wasn't quite sure if it was too soon, so I'll let you decide.

**Question**: Should Zero get his first kiss in the next chapter or is it too soon?

Additionally, Thank You everyone who reviewed my previous chapters, your support keeps me writing. And my apologies for taking so long to get this chapter out, I had one of those your-future-depends-on-this kind of exams, so thus the delay.

Also, this is my first fighting scene, so tell me if the style is okay. Furthermore, is there too much time with the OC's? they have a purpose, but I can try to alter scenes with them to be shorter. Lastly, for anyone who is curious, I plan to explain the change in Zero's scent in the next chapter, and there is a method to my madness. Tell me what you want and I will try to make it happen.


	7. The Town

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or any of its characters.

I apologize for this being so late. If you wish to throw rotten vegtables at me, that is perfectly understandable.

* * *

><p>Kaname closed the space between his own mouth and Zero's, his eyes focused on his destination, his throat burning with desire for the ambrosia of Zero's blood, his breath mingling with the sweet shallow breaths of the boy before him. His lips lingered a mere hair's width away from Zero's, when Zero's eyes fluttered open. Kuran didn't notice, until Zero stepped back.<p>

Slowly, Zero brought his hand up to his face where the cut should have been. Feeling the newly healed flesh, Zero's brow momentarily furrowed, before his burning crimson gaze locked onto Kuran's. "What the hell were you just doing?" Zero's rasped, quietly.

Kaname remained motionless for a moment, what the hell was he doing? What the hell was he thinking? Oh right, he wasn't. He had been acting solely on impulse, giving into Zero's allure. But Zero hadn't stopped him. "You had a cut."

"So you decided to lick my face?"

"You weren't complaining."

"I fucking thought I passed out," Zero stated, retreating paces, one hand flying into his hair and the other to his injured side as he turned away from Kaname, his agitation turning into jittery energy, but he was unable to completely ignore the ever growing pain in his side. He had to get away from the pureblood, and the smell of _his _blood. Being injured made him hungry. The pain he felt when Kaname sucked on his cut had awakened him to the reality of his situation, and bloodlust held him captive there.

Zero's aura was reverting back to that of his former self and Kaname didn't like it. Albeit, Zero likely had cracked, if not broken ribs at the moment, hadn't sleep much last night, was probably still exhausted from their previous nights training, and was now apparently going into bloodlust. Nevertheless, Kaname felt a slight pang at Zero's reply, though he refrained from flinching. It was inexplicable, but for some reason he was craving the hunter's approval. "And why was that your assumption?"

Zero leant against the wall, hiding his face with one of his hands, as heat trickled into his cheeks. He would not admit to his misconception that this was another of the previous night's heated dreams; his current flush was embarrassing enough. "It seemed the only logical explanation for your behavior. I don't care if you're a vampire, you don't just lick people Kuran."

"And how many people have you licked Kiryuu?"

"I can't help that I am a monster Kuran. Thanks for the reminder."

"And you suggest that I chose my birthright?"

"We both fucking know that _you_ and _I_ are _not _the same breed of beast. Shit I thought I was over this." Zero slid down the wall, hands clasping his throat. He could feel his strength of will beginning to crack under the physical and mental strain of his abused and fatigued body and mind, and the sharp burning reminder of his shameful ex-human identity. _We_ _may both be beasts, but I am the only monster, the only one to lose his sanity to the temptation of blood, the only one who would attack someone I love, the only one to devour my own flesh and blood. I thought I had learned to harness this side of myself._

It was true, as a born vampire Kaname did not normally fight the same internal battle that Zero faced. His urges, at least for blood, were _usually_ more controllable. "Zero…"

Zero's gaze shot up towards Kaname, briefly showing recognizable lavender, before crimson crept back into the edge of his irises. He thought he had heard Kuran say his name, his given name, but it was so quiet, it could have merely been a breath. But Kuran's eyes said it all; it was the same look Yuuki used to give him. Zero's eyes went wide, "Yuuki…, Kuran -"

Kaname turned away from Zero at the mention of his Yuuki's name, and he began to put distance between himself and the hunter. He needed a clear head, which was difficult with the chaste hint of Zero's blood lingering on his tongue, while the memory of Zero's warmth teased Kaname's skin as it slowly melted into the air that was rich with the hunter's scent. Yuuki. He had to remember to focus, for Yuuki. But he couldn't deny a reverberating pain within his chest. Just as Yuuki was forever concerned about Zero's well-being, Zero likewise put Yuuki first. Who was there for him? _Once, Zero's devotion to Yuuki was precisely what I desired, it was part of my design, but …. _

"Kuran," Zero's voice was unnaturally hesitant, "Yuuki is the reason you're here now, correct?" It somehow almost felt wrong to be with Kuran, considering what just happened, without Yuuki's permission.

It caught Kaname slightly off guard. It probably shouldn't have, but Zero's tone was new. The boy's uncertainty was usually expressed in anger.

"Yuuki is likely still in her room; she was quite upset last night."

Zero's eyes narrowed, whether Yuuki sent Kuran or not didn't really matter now, Kuran's sidestep was successful, "and why was Yuuki upset?"

"We have discussed this before; Yuuki is no longer your problem Kiryu."

"I never saw Yuuki as my 'problem' Kuran, what the hell are you implying?"

"I would rather not discuss this with you."

"Because you never discuss anything, Kuran, all you do is order people around, expecting your orders and approval to be sufficient for their happiness. That is not a relationship; tell me that's not what you've been doing to Yuuki."

Instantly, Zero's wrists were slammed against the wall on either side of his head, and Zero found himself face-to-face with Kuran, fangs bared, but with an uncharacteristic insecurity in his eyes. "What happened to all your confidence that I could make Yuuki happy?"

Zero quieted for a moment, his current state of health was making him rash and unnecessarily harsh, but it was no excuse. Another ache began to settle itself onto Zero, guilt. _I should be stronger than this. My pain is my punishment for being a monster. Just endure, I have a new purpose now._ _I just need to calm myself. _Zero took a steadying breath. It was a mistake; he could feel bloodlust angrily clawing up his throat, coupled with a sharp pain in his side. _Damn._

Kaname was also distracted by his proximity to the hunter. Adrenaline was the hormonal response for way too many things: fear, aggression, lust. And right now the hunter was splayed ever-so vulnerably in front of him, his sweet scent and appearance teasing Kaname senseless. Kaname could feel the strong pulse of a hunter running through Zero's wrists, and Kuran felt it lull him under an odd breed of hypnosis, drawing him closer and closer to bloodlust, further and further from his wondrous sense of self-control. It wouldn't take much to taste that sweet ambrosia, Zero was injured and unable to reach his weapon at the moment.

But a physical tap on his shoulder ultimately drew the pureblood out of the trance. "Kaname-kun, please consider that my little Zero-rin is injured, he should go to the nurse's office."

Kuran backed up immediately, releasing Zero, who slumped forward somewhat clumsily but caught himself with one arm, as he closed his eyes to try and hide their brilliant red from Kaien.

"Zero-rin, Kiyomizu-san seemed concerned that he may have broken some of your ribs," Kaien kneeled next to Zero.

Shaking slightly, Zero drew in breaths through his mouth, then slowly met Kaien's concerned gaze with lavender eyes. "Is everything under control?"

A gentle smile crossed Cross's face, before splitting into a manic grin "the students are all back in the dorms, no one was hurt, and my darling daughter seemed quiet enthused to take over prefect duties again."

This news caused Zero to smile softly, before a grimace took over. "I…" Zero did his best to rise, using the wall slightly for support, while doing his best to blink away the pain, "I need to leave."

Concern furrowed Kaien's brow, while Kaname flexed his hand, resisting his impulse to go to the hunter's aid.

"Kaname-san, thank you for taking care of Zero, if you would please go make sure the Moon Dorms are settled, I am taking Zero to the infirmary."

"Of course."

"I should be fine Headmaster," Zero stated, gently, but with authority, as he started heading for the door. The pain was becoming more and more difficult to handle, as the intensity of the situation calmed.

Cross swooped one arm around Zero, and pulled Zero's other arm around his neck taking on most of Zero's weight, and getting the closest he ever had to a hug from his adopted son. After mild protest Zero gave in and allowed the elder to help him to the door. "How many times do I have to tell you Zero-rin? Please call me tou-san."

Kuran just watched frozen, he could see the boy's strength; it used to be a threat to him. But now, Zero wasn't only strength, Kaname could also see his gentleness with those he cared for, even if Zero was slightly reluctant to show it openly.

Zero could feel the pureblood's gaze on them, and it churned up his former feelings of guilt, he had gone too far. Stopping firmly in the doorway, Zero turned back, "Kuran, I," he took a short breath momentarily looking down, before bring his exquisite eyes to Kaname's, "I'm sorry."

Kaname's eyebrows lifted, "for what?" he didn't know why he asked, he thought he already knew the answer.

Zero blinked a couple of times, then drew his eyebrows together, confusion marring his perfect features, "when I first met you, I attacked you with a butter-knife, I'm sorry." Zero had a lot of things to apologize for; he might as well start at the beginning. However, Zero's features also spoke eloquently of his dissatisfaction with his given response, nevertheless, he turned to see the silly grin on Cross's face, and decided it was high-time to leave, grumbling the rest of the way to the infirmary. But Zero couldn't help but notice the way his thirst continued to subside as he went further and further from Kuran's scent.

Kaname remained frozen, for a few more minutes, allowing himself to process the last few moments. It was odd, how much Zero's simple and miss-directed apology still resounded within him. And yet, he was so used to not only controlling himself, but also skillfully playing puppet-master with others, that to have his mind go so blank in the presence of a hunter was slightly terrifying. In previous encounters he had been similarly rough with the hunter; he had to admit that he more easily lost control of his temper in front of the boy. But this time was different, this time he was losing control of his self, not simply his temper. Stealing himself, Kaname left the cellar, acknowledging that at least part of his confusion and the hunter's allure was Zero's more recent change in biology, something he would send Aidou to investigate.

* * *

><p>Class exchange proceeded with the rather visible absence of a certain hunter, whom his replacement (Chairman Cross), was bombarded with questions about. The chairman was so overwhelmed with the sheer intense devotion of the Day Class students for the Night Class, and the Night Class students for Zero, that he almost missed the distinct absence of a certain pureblood. Kuran caught Kaien's eye, nodding in the direction of the Moon Dorms, where Cross picked up Kiyomizu's suppressed aura, all the while keeping up his cheerful and slightly helpless façade. As the exchange ended, Cross gave an exaggerated sigh, and couldn't help but smile as he sensed the presence of a young pureblood creeping from the Moon Dorms towards the infirmary.<p>

* * *

><p>Zero was startled from his light sleep by the sudden presence of a pureblood in the room. His immediate reaction being to reach for Bloody Rose on the bedside tray, quickly sitting-up and aiming it at the new presence. Pain creased Zero's brow, and pressed his sculpted lips into a hard line, as his body punished him for the sudden movement. But he never took his eyes off his intruder, whom now had his hands raised in a subtle gesture of surrender.<p>

"I didn't mean to frighten you," Kiyomizu's words were quiet and sincere, but without even a tinge of fear as he stared down the barrel of currently one of the most lethal weapons a pureblood could face. He trusted Zero already, it didn't make sense to the pureblood, but he couldn't help it, the hunter's presence calmed him.

Zero merely continued to stare at Kiyomizu for a moment, searching Kiyomizu, before he lowered Bloody Rose, but still held it lightly in his grip.

Kiyomizu simply stood there, not saying anything but allowing his senses to soak up every miniscule detail, every soft breath, every heartbeat, every whiff of scent, everything that made up this beautiful boy. He enjoyed the way the setting sun crept in through the window so it could caress Zero's bare shoulders, the way the bandages around Zero's rib cage embraced him, the way that shadows nestled into the contours of Zero's well-muscled, but lithe body. In essence, he loved the way that Zero's mere presence could make anything, light, dark, or ordinary, seem beautiful and sacred.

After a minute of silence, Zero's soft voice broke Kiyomizu from his revere, "why did you come?"

"I-I came to apologize for putting you here."

Zero's eyes went wide, giving him a lovely look of bewildered innocence, before he schooled himself, a compassionate sorrow edging into his eyes, "what's done is done, I'll heal."

With those simple words, Kiyomizu allowed himself a soft smile, something he hadn't done since his brother's initial disappearance. Then rather abruptly, he crossed the room to sit at Kiryuu's bedside, wanting to be as close as possible to this enchanting being, failing to notice the slight tension that built in the hunter's muscles. Once seated, Kiyomizu continued to allow his senses to take in Zero, his slow steady pulse drawing Kiyomizu in, filling the silence and void.

Normally, Zero did not mind silence; however, with the way Kiyomizu was just staring at him, Zero could feel a slight blush crawl into his cheeks, as he turned away and cleared his throat. "Um… if that is all…"

Kiyomizu blinked, realizing he was being dismissed, but not yet wanting to leave the shirtless hunter, "I want to talk with you about something," he half-lied. Zero looked at him, urging him to continue; before he could even think of the consequences, the words which had been haunting him spilled out and his constant mantra fell again from his tongue "my brother is innocent."

Zero felt a slight pang, how long had he tried to convince himself of Ichiru's innocence, despite what he had seen with his own eyes. And with a simple request Zero dispelled the tension building in the room, "tell me about him."

The look in Kiyomizu's eyes was immensely grateful, and he quickly launched into stories of his brother. Drawing out a picture from the breast pocket of his sports coat to show Zero a picture of a platinum blond family, the Kiyomizu before him being one of them.

Watching Kiyomizu, Zero couldn't help but feel like he was looking at a child. Kiyomizu was powerful, no doubt, but his emotions were so raw, vibrant, and easily seen in pureblood's eyes, that Zero felt concerned slightly for this particular individual. It was odd but he couldn't help but feel that Kiyomizu was someone to be protected.

"…I guess he became like my other half, because my parents always kept us from the outside world and we only ever fed from each other."

"What did you say?" Zero felt his breath catch slightly, from his phrasing, but more so from the words which followed.

"We only ever feed from each other?"

"Why?"

Kiyomizu shrugged.

After a minute of silence Zero let it drop, but filed it away to investigate later, then inquired, "What else did you say?"

"My parents didn't want us leaving the property."

"Why?" Other than Yuuki, Zero had never heard of this type of behavior from pureblood parents, something was going on here.

Kiyomizu tensed slightly, realizing this could go badly, but looking at the hunter he felt some of his inhibitions ease. "Purebloods typically have a general set of powers above other vampires, and then they also have powers unique to them." Kiyomizu hesitated slightly, looking into Zero's eyes, "My parents kept us away because of our lack of additional power; they said we weren't developed, and we would be easy prey used to strengthen their enemies."

Brow furrowed, Zero tried to comprehend what he had just been told, this was incredibly new, as far as he knew all purebloods contained some immensely lethal power, but this did explain Kiyomizu's ignorance about certain things, along with his childishness. Still, Zero could not help but be slightly skeptical, "and your brother…"

"He always wanted to leave, he was tired of the only people we saw being 'trusted purebloods' like Kawakami, or other noble children. He wanted to see the world, so when he came to get me, he told me he found a way out. One of the servants had shown it to him. He wanted to show me… he wanted us to escape together," Kiyomizu's eyes shone with unshed tears, as he peered down at his empty hands. "But I was late…" with this admission tears found their way down his cheeks and into his opened hands. "I should have been their, whoever took him… I-I…." Had he not been crying shamelessly for the past week, Kiyomizu would have perhaps tried to stifle his emotions, but it no longer mattered to him, he already knew of his weakness, so he let his tears fall freely. Faintly, he could hear the rustle of sheets, and movement on the old creaky infirmary cot, then he felt a strong arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a warm chest.

For a minute Zero just held Kiyomizu, Kiyomizu's head buried into his chest, as he pressed soothing circles onto his back, the same way he had with Ichiru and later with Yuuki, when both looked so fragile, they seemed they would break if someone didn't hold them together. Then Zero tensed, releasing Kiyomizu, and lightly pushing him back as the glass behind them suddenly shattered, and cracks made their way up the surrounding window panels.

Kuran stood in the doorway, with Aidou in tow. The expression Kaname was wearing mildly hinted that he was in an ill mood, his voice only confirming his contempt. "Kiyomizu-san, I must insist that if you are not going to take this time to rest and set up your room that you instead attend class. I can not have you wandering around campus as if this academy's rules do not apply to you."

Kiyomizu immediately tensed, unconsciously readying himself for attack, his gaze so intently focused on Kuran, that he jumped slightly as he felt a comforting hand cover his.

"You should head back Kiyomizu-sempai, thank you for checking on me," Zero gave his hand a slight squeeze, giving him a soft smile before turning back to Kaname, as the glass behind them continued to splinter.

Slowly, Kiyomizu got up, casting wary glances at Kaname, before whispering to Zero "If you want me to stay…"

Kaname tensed further, his darkening aura pressing into the room, but Zero was quick to respond, though his challenging gaze remained on Kuran, "No, it would be better if you left."

Reluctantly, Kiyomizu headed to the door, taking his sweet time exiting the room and glaring at Kaname with undisguised threat, "if anything happens to him…"

"I'm not the one who broke his ribs."

After ushering a low growl, Kiyomizu left, promising himself he would make it up to the hunter somehow.

Kaname watched Kiyomizu make his way down the hall, noting that in his periphery he could see Hanabusa making faces at the retreating form. But when he turned back to Kiryuu he was met with a far less entertaining sight. Zero was glaring at him.

"What the hell was that Kuran?"

"I could ask you the same," Kaname glared back, stepping into the room and closing the door on a pouting Aidou.

"He was upset, his brother just died."

"I see; so then it's okay to break school policy so long as you're able to cry when it matters," Kuran stated lifting a cynical brow, but keeping his voice relatively even.

"Kiyomizu-sempai was under my watch, the Headmaster is coming to visit in 10 minutes, then he could have escorted Kiyomizu-sempai back to the dorms, instead of sending him off alone," Zero's voice had a slightly bitter-tinge, but he was trying to keep it relatively even. Why Kuran was so upset and baiting him on this topic, he didn't quite know.

Kaname closed his eyes, trying to calm himself, but that infuriating image of a scantly clad Zero holding Kiyomizu kept playing on the back of his eyelids. It shouldn't matter to him, but it did. Kaname tried to keep his voice steady, "Do you even remember what I told you last evening while training?"

Zero nodded once, "I was keeping track of my head, and Bloody Rose was within reach," he stated pulling Bloody Rose from where it was hidden in his sheets. "Because of our earlier spar, I have a good estimate of his reaction time."

Kaname allowed himself to be slightly impressed by Zero's immediate awareness and foresight, but still could not help but be haunted by the image of Zero's beautiful, sorrowful eyes as he coddled the other pureblood, empathy etched so completely into Zero's angelic features. Kuran almost couldn't stop himself from feeling slight envy, seeing someone else receive the compassion he secretly longed for. Trying to calm himself, Kuran took a moment to simply stare at the ruffled hunter, wearing only boxers and bandages with his legs spread slightly as the hooked over the side of the cot. His eyes finally connected with Zero, who was giving him a questioning look, the full picture only completed by Zero's tousled silver lochs. Disturb by Aidou's sudden knocks Kuran spun around, realizing Zero's appearance was doing little to calm him, "come in Aidou."

Poking his head around the door, Aidou tried to quickly assess the situation before entering, a large medical bag in tow.

Kiryuu turned to him and raised a questioning brow.

Aidou happily launched into an explanation, "earlier the mere smell of your blood basically caused a riot among the Night Class, a month ago, you were bleeding profusely and it did not have nearly such a drastic affect. I'm here to see what's changed."

Zero gave Aidou a slightly skeptical look as he made his way around the bed. "And you're certified to do this?"

Aidou pouted, "You're lucky I'm taking the time for you Kiryuu, do you even know how many job offers per week I get?"

Zero's lip twitched up, "enlighten me," Aidou was so easily flustered, the same way Yuuki used to be, sure the boy was more delinquent but they were both equally juvenile.

Aidou was about to answer when he noticed Zero's slightly playful expression and huffed, deciding not to dignify Zero's challenge with a response and instead simply began digging through his bag looking for his supplies, muttering to himself about finding the largest needle he possibly could.

Kuran couldn't help the smile that settled on his features after watching the two; Aidou always was excellent at diffusing tension, so long as he wasn't focused on Kaname.

Noticing some of the hostility bleed out of Kuran's aura, Zero took a moment to look up at him, only to realize that Kaname still had his eyes on him. Blushing slightly, Zero turned his head away; he was slowly becoming aware that he really wasn't wearing much, and shifted so the sheets began to cover more of his body.

However subtle he intended this action to be, Aidou caught it and started smirking, deciding it was his turn to tease the hunter back. "You know you really should be grateful to Kanama-sama for preventing Sadayo-sama from coming to visit. He would have loved-"

"Aidou," Kaname abruptly cut him off, seeing where this was going.

"Yes Kaname-sama?"

"What is your assessment so far?"

Looking back at Kiryuu, then up towards Kaname, he got the hint, and quickly tied an elastic band around Kiryuu's bicep.

"I'm going to take some blood samples and to try and collect the aromatics from it, run it through the GCMS, and see if I can isolate what has caused the change in Kiryuu's scent…." While Aidou was prattling on, he had begun to clean a patch of Zero skin with sterilizing alcohol. "I have a couple hypotheses as to the cause, but I also want to also make up some cell cultures and sequence his genome first, then compare it to the other vampire, human, and hunter samples I have before I jump to any conclusions."

Zero looked at him, "is all that really necessary?"

"No," Aidou smiled, taking a sterile needle from its casing and attaching it to a long tube, connected to a blood bag, latex gloves already on. "But while I have the chance, I might as well find out your genetically programmed tendencies, maybe you…" Aidou stopped, when he put the needle in, and the potency of Zero's blood reaching his nose. Gulping Aidou tried to keep his hands steady and the red from showing in his eyes.

Kaname tensed, folding his arms tightly across his chest, grateful that he had taken nearly an entire container of blood tablets shortly before coming, all the while keeping an eye on Aidou, who had never been particularly good at denying his thirst.

Zero could tell the sudden shift in everyone's mood as soon as the needle went in; it felt weird to be the cause. His left arm still extended, he leaned back a little, his right hand landing on Bloody Rose, with as much sarcasm as he could muster Zero said, "Bite me, and I shoot Aidou-sempai."

At that Aidou's eyes returned to Kiryuu's face, happy to hear the hunter wasn't being serious, "like I would ever bite you," his face scrunched. "Besides, I'm sure your blood is poison."

Zero snorted, "kinda like your blood tablets."

"This is the thanks I get for spending my precious time helping you?"

"You wouldn't even be here if Kuran wasn't right behind you"

"That's not true"

"Oh?" Kaname inquired, eyebrow quirked.

Zero couldn't help the small smirk at seeing Aidou blush from ear to ear as he hunched over slightly, before Aidou looked up to glare at him, and pulled the needle rather abruptly from his arm.

Unfortunately for Aidou it did not have the desired affect, Zero didn't even flinch, but both he and Kaname did as blood began to bulge at the edge of the small incision.

Quickly, Kaname made his way past Aidou, grabbed Zero by the wrist and brought the inside of Zero's forearm up to his mouth, pressing his lips to the wound before Zero yanked his arm back.

"Don't do that Kuran," Zero stated trying to squelch the heat rising to his face from the feel of Kuran's lips against his body, as he looked down at his wound free arm.

Mouth agape, Aidou stared at Zero, noticing the slight blush, and not quite sure what to feel after what he had just seen. He was torn between jealously, though he wasn't sure which of the two he was jealous of, and confusion.

"It's for everyone's good. If anyone smelt your blood, there would be chaos among the night class again. I've already had to deal with some of that tonight. Now if you'll excuse me," with that Kuran exited the room closing the door behind him and getting out of the building as quickly as possible. He needed to distance himself from Zero, having nearly lost his sense of self-control with Zero sitting there nearly naked and the smell and teasing little taste of the hunter's blood filling his senses. Slightly distracted Kuran almost ran into an excited Chairman Cross heading his way.

"Kaname-kun, were you visiting little Zero-rin? How does he look?"

_Damn Delectable!_ "He looks like he will be fine in no time."

"Umm, that's very good."

"Cross-san,"

"Hm?"

Kaname let out a short breath, "I don't think I will be able to attend dinner with you this Friday after all, something has come up."

"Whaa? But Zero-kun was going to cook a special dinner since I told him we were having company," Cross pouted.

Food would have to wait, until Kuran felt he had better self-control, and understood exactly what was happening to him around Zero "My apologies Cross-san."

Meanwhile, Aidou and Zero remained silent for a moment, before Aidou got out a clipboard and started asking Zero personal questions, which he was only semi-inclined to answer.

When Aidou got to the, "and when did you begin your last menstrual cycle?" He was driven from the room.

* * *

><p>He felt tense as three figures made their way towards him. With the extra sleep Zero was allowed to get, his self-healing abilities had already drastically decreased the pain he was feeling. He could breathe again, which was good, because he had been breathing deeply all morning, trying to calm his nerves. The new hunter students were coming to campus, and he was to show them around. Despite the fact that Yagari had taken him on again as a student, he still felt apprehensive near his brethren-by-birth.<p>

"So they send a bloodsucker to greet us, great, I can't believe their making me do this."

"This is a school for integration, what did you expect? You didn't have to come?"

"Yeah I kinda did, this is my community service for messing up on the last mission."

The other boy snorted muttering "screw-up" under his breath, but was thwacked upside the head by the female-hunter behind him.

"What went wrong Kioshi?" she asked with the genuine concern of a fan-girl.

The hunter referred to as Kioshi went slightly red at the girls questioning, but instead of responding turned to glare at Zero who was finally in front of them. "So bloodsucker, who let you out of your coffin in the daytime? Doesn't this school have any rules to protect the humans from you parasites?"

This was obviously going to be a pleasant day, but Zero was numb to any anger he might have felt, he too knew the way that fear inspired hatred, it was necessary to survive as a hunter, in a kill or be killed world. So he simply nodded, "Nice to meet you, I'm Zero Kiryuu, the other prefect."

* * *

><p>The days went by andZero received cold-shoulders from both Kioshi and Amaya, i.e. the girl who tagged along everywhere with Kioshi. But the third hunter was less disagreeable, he was the one who had agreed to patrol with Zero, he liked to talk … a lot, but Zero didn't mind so much, it made the time pass more quickly.<p>

Kuran had begun to avoid him; it frustrated Zero the first time Kuran blew him off for a training session, he thought they were in this together. But he was not about to lose valuable time waiting for Kuran to get his act together. So on his nights off Zero would do his best to train himself, study the hunter arts, and had begun looking over case files, one in particular catching his eye, the case of Kiyomizu's brother.

Zero had taken his time looking over the file repeatedly, and the facts just didn't add-up. The amount of people that had been turned in the time that the boy had disappeared would have meant that he turned about one person every two minutes, assuming he slept only a few hours a night. It didn't seem reasonable, especially considering what Kiyomizu had told him about his brother and his underdeveloped-pureblood-abilities, though the source had an obvious bias. Secondly, there was something just…_off_ about the parents' statement. And lastly, there was no record of either the trial or the execution of the young pureblood. It just didn't add up. He had called Yagari-sensei, but he hadn't been in charge of this case.

So when the weekend came, Zero informed Yagari-sensei that he would be visiting the Kiyomizu territory, and since the hunter's still had jurisdiction over the town Yagari allowed it, but to Zero's great displeasure, he was told to bring Kioshi with him. Kioshi's sensei apparently wanted the boy to get some more field experience.

* * *

><p>Hanabusa Aidou was ecstatic to say the least, he had figured it out, he had proof and the results to support this theory, <em>and<em> he had discovered that Zero was even more of a freak than he initially thought. This could be a major scientific discovery, he could easily get a journal article published out of this, but most importantly, he had an answer to give his Kaname-sama. He stood at the double doors to Kaname's study and felt like bursting in, but restrained himself, managing to only knock incessantly until he got a response.

"Yes Aidou?" Kuran's voice questioned from within.

"I've found the results for Zero's change Kaname-sama," he chirped.

Before Aidou had even finished his statement the door was opened, "Come in."

With the excitement of a preschooler on a sugar-rush Aidou made his way in, sitting across from Kaname at his desk, where he handed over a file-folder to the pureblood and began excitedly gibbering.

"My initial theories were not too far off, Kaname-sama. It turns out Zero is going through a delayed version of vampire puberty."

Kaname raised a thin eyebrow.

"You see, it's when vampires go through puberty that we initially start generating the pheromones, and developing a scent and to attract other vampires and humans as mate or prey. In most cases, the biological chemicals we produce are meant to target a neurological reaction within the prey or mate we biologically align with the most, usually coinciding with the blood-types we prefer.

Here's the exciting thing, Kiryuu's body does that as well, but I think when he received the extra hunter-blood, and became 'mega-hunter' his biology changed. Sleeper genes awoke and began transcribing for the pheromones and a scent to attract exclusively vampires. It might be the biological compromise between his hunter roots and his vampire inheritance. The molecules he is producing are amazing; they modify to react with a vampire's receptors to always increase it potency. And it's likely the purer the vampire, the more affect his scent will have, because of their biology."

Kaname silently processed the information. It was slightly a relief to have this explanation and helped him feel slightly less like a creep for having thoughts about Zero that he had never had of Yuuki; after all, it was apparently just biology, or so he was trying to convince himself at the moment.

With a nod, Kaname thumbed through the folder.

"This might also explain his decreased appetite for blood. If Zero's body is only responsive to the blood of higher level vampires then he's no longer really a threat to humans, but he is also in danger of being walking vampire bat-nip"

"Thank you Aidou, good work."

Aidou beamed at the simple acknowledgement, as Kaname picked up the phone, "Cross-san, where is Zero, it is important that I speak with him?"

…

"He's in the Kiyomizus' territory? Are the Kiyomizus still in the area?"

…

Kaname tensed, eyes narrowing, "Thank you Cross-san. I should inform you that Takuma will be watching over the dorms today."

…

"Yes, business I have to attend to just came up."

…

"Good bye Cross-san."

As soon as Kaname turned off his phone, he was out of his seat, and out the door.

* * *

><p>Sadayo spent a majority ofhis time, since arriving at Cross Academy, trying to find a way to inconspicuously slip by Kaname, and his wall of minions, and into the hunter's life. He admitted that this was developing into a slightly unhealthy obsession, but he also wanted what he wanted, and what he wanted was Zero Kiryuu.<p>

Thus when he found the hunter leaving campus for Kiyomizu's territory on Saturday morning, despite the inconvenient hour, Sadayo took the opportunity to follow. To his displeasure, however, he noted that he was also being trailed by none other than his 'fiancé', Shiroyama. Thus in an attempt to lose Shiroyama, Sadayo took a slight detour, which would delay his arrival at the Kiyomizu territory.

* * *

><p>Zero was more than happy to try and ditch Kioshi with the first hunter he saw, before heading out into the city, and slowly making his way towards the Kiyomizu residence.<p>

So far, many of the ex-humans had yet to be detained, so it was easy to find and question them. As far as he was aware, there seemed to be two types of ex-humans in the town, those whose memories were clearly tampered with, and had remnants of vampire charms still dusting across their minds, and those who seemed completely fine, minus the whole certain doom from being turned into a level D. However, the odd part was that neither group had any memory of ever encountering a vampire, while this made sense for the former, the latter had begun to creep Zero out. It didn't seem possible, something was definitely wrong.

Zero found himself at the edge of town, he thought he had sensed another ex-human, and had begun to follow him or her, but was starting to feel slightly more like a mouse being seduced by the smell of a piece of cheese in a trap.

It was quiet out here, away from the bustle of town. The buildings were thinning, and the ex-human kept moving further around twists and turns. Zero was tense, danger-senses flaring, Bloody Rose drawn and ready to shoot. Wearily scanning his surrounding, Zero briefly stalled, debating whether or not to turn back, his gut told him that something was severely wrong. He could feel a tingle up his spine, alerting him to another presence, but it seemed barely tangible. It confused his senses, until he felt a sharp spark of understanding flare, his trigger finger tightened, purebloods.

Turning around to see a pureblood materialize from a murder of crows, he immediately took aim with Bloody Rose, before he felt his heart skip a beat. It was one of the purebloods from Kiyomizu's picture, and in her arms was a petrified Kioshi. Zero could feel another pureblood materialize behind him, but he didn't move; he couldn't break eye contact with the young hunter in front of him. _When Shizuka held him, had his parents felt this helpless. _

"This little one strayed away from camp; you hunter's should be keeping a better eye on your own," the woman's sweet voice floated over to Zero's ears, as she nuzzled her face into the crook of Kioshi neck.

Kioshi was visibly trembling, his eyes darting from Zero to the figure coming up behind him.

"Especially considering how thirsty we purebloods become while grieving," Zero did his best to repress a shiver that went down his spine at the low voice and hot breath upon his ear. As long as a pureblood's fangs were that close to Kioshi's neck, he wouldn't be able to fight. Fuck.

"But being so generous," Zero felt arms pull his own down to his side before circling his shoulder, a hard body pressing into him from behind, "and seeing as how you smell so good," Zero could feel the bastards breath on his neck, "if you behave, pureblood-slayer, perhaps …we'll spare your friend."

When he felt the gentle press of a tongue along the side of his neck, Zero felt bile rise in his throat from the fear that shook him. Swallowing it quickly back down, Zero tried to reason, "You'll be added to the execution list."

He could feel a low chuckle reverberating from the others chest into his back, and the delicate manic giggle of the woman across from him. The pureblood behind him deeply inhaled his scent once again, "Emm, you smell mouthwatering, no wonder _he _wants you."

Zero watched as the female began to lick the side of Kioshi's neck, making the boy start to cry, he felt a small protective surge, "If you bite him, I will kill you," Zero warned, his eyes finally capturing the attention of the female pureblood, she looked up at him and merely smiled, a spaced-out, uncomprehending, pleasant smile.

The arms tightened around Zero, and he felt the pureblood's hot breath right next to his ear, "Dearest, he doesn't seem to know," a hand came up to force Zero's head to the side, "that our death has already been sentenced," Zero felt the man behind him shift, "because we are no longer useful in this game." A hot, wet, tongue licked up the exposed side of Zero's neck, "because _he_ already took everything…"

"…when _he_ took our son," the female finished in whispered, as she looked into Zero's eyes, her own that same distinctive red as Kiyomizu's.

And then he felt it, Zero could feel the agonizing push of sharp fangs into the side of his neck. Something flashed before Zero's eyes, and his senses screamed that another pureblood had joined them. His vision blurred, but he was certain Kioshi fell to the ground.

The pain seared as Zero felt the fangs pushed deeper, drawing more and more from his soul, his mind seizing; he tried to struggle for consciousness, fought to hold onto the hazy reality before him, and slowly pulled the trigger of the one thing grounding him. He saw a flash of light, and heard someone yell for him; his memories began flashing, his parents' screams, their blood, so much blood, and Ichiru…, and then his mind went blank.

* * *

><p>AN: My apologies for the great delay of this chapter, as you can probably tell from the poor quality of this chapter, I have been having severe writers block, and additionally, life got _really_ busy right after I finished the last chapter. However, neither is a decent excuse, so my apologies.

This was a slightly plot heavy chapter, and it will get back to being more about developing relationships soon, so please don't give up on this story because this chapter was bad, give up on it for other reasons if you so choose, but I hope the next chapter will be better, and it will definitely be coming soon.

Thank you for all of those who chose to review last time, it is the reason again that I am continuing with the story, and thank you for all your votes, I hope the way things went is okay. T-T I'm SORRY!


	8. The Aunt

Disclaimer: I do not own vampire knights or any of its characters

Warning: language and violence

* * *

><p>The leaves of a nearby tree shuddered in the light breeze, whispering about a dark secret the winds carried. An entire story playing out in the faint scents it brought from across town to the Pureblood Prince's nose; instantly, he disappeared.<p>

* * *

><p>Akako Shiroyama, second generation since the split of the family, had always been a rather level-headed girl. Thinking before acting, remaining calm and collected through any assortment of scenarios Kenzou Kawakami managed to get them into; with one prior exception, she acted like the desired perfect, stoic, pureblood daughter. So it came as a shock to her when she first laid eyes on Hideaki Sadayo and was assaulted by the illogical onslaught of emotions brought with infatuation. He was everything she wasn't. He was exciting, forward, and selfish, and had a crooked smile that demanded her attention and made her heart flutter erratically. And for the second time in her life-and this was <em>no<em> hyperbole-she wanted something, she wanted him.

Three years later they were engaged, though it was 'arranged', Shiroyama was satisfied, but Sadayo was not. He pushed off the wedding for years, insisting he was not ready for any relationship that extended beyond satisfying one's physical urges, that is until he caught wind of Zero Kiryuu. Rumors of Kiryuu, 'the magnificent oddity of the ages; the tragically beautiful boy, whose very existence seemed to oppose every vampire code in the metaphorical book,' stirred his desires. So, Sadayo left for Cross Academy, and Shiroyama followed.

Much like this morning, when Shiroyama saw Sadayo trailing one of the Association's cars, she followed. Sometime into the journey, Shiroyama noted that Sadayo split from the hunter's trail, which meant one of two things; either Sadayo wasn't really tailing the hunter and was attending to something off campus, which she doubted, or she had been found out. Weighing her options, she made her decision.

Pulling the form of a sparrow hawk from her bosom, she ran her hands down its feathers, rubbing her scent into the otherwise odorless fauna, cooing softly to the bird as she imparted a small part of her consciousness and aura onto it. She then released it to keep an eye on her dear Sadayo, and convey the impression that she was still hot on his tail. Meanwhile, she further suppressed her aura using a significant amount of her well cultivated mental strength, and continued to follow Kiryuu.

In time she was slightly surprised to find herself in the distinctly familiar Kiyomizu territory, where she had spent many days of her childhood, back when the family tried to get along. She had never spent much time with her two male cousins, believing them too sheltered and naïve of pureblood culture to be good company, though Kawakami thoughtfully disagreed. Even recently, seeing Akiyo Kiyomizu at the academy, she had been more embarrassed by the family relation, then sympathetic to his distress. What could he accomplish by acting so rashly and causing such a commotion? If he had persisted in fighting and she had needed to come to his aid…, she was annoyed by his thoughtlessness, but he was family.

However, this tenuous relationship tended to be typical in pureblood families that split after the death of their ancestor. In some instances, half the families would retain a greater physical strength, but have the mental stability of dry ice on a hot summer's day, while the other half preserved their emotional constancy and mental acuity and love of all things intellectually stimulating, be it culture, science, or psychological warfare, though they were physically weaker than their counterparts. Such was the case with the Kiyomizu and Shiroyama households. Now the only thing tying the two families together was their similar shade of platinum blonde hair. Yet they were by far not the most extreme example of such a split. That claim belonged solely to the Hio and Kurenai lineages, about whom it was rumored that both sides of the family were being cursed for their failure. The Kurenai were so weak that they were barely considered purebloods now-a-days and were thereby forced to breed with lesser levels, while the Hio's who held all of the physical strength, well they were all dead.

Shiroyama released a small sigh as she drew herself from her musings, to contemplate a more at hand and slightly disturbing notion. Would she be trespassing on the Kiyomizu territory since she came unannounced and uninvited? What repercussions could her thoughtless actions have on her family? Then again, right now this town was technically under the Hunter Association's jurisdiction, so it wasn't really the Kiyomizus and pureblood courtesy she needed to fret over.

After her slight hesitation, during which she, rather unfortunately, lost all traces of her intended target, Shiroyama proceeded into the small town, which almost looked new to her in the mornings muted daylight. Her head was abuzz from the weak auras of the ex-humans littering the city. She continued to wander the streets, careful to avoid the hunters she scented, once she noted a familiar scent. It wasn't Kiryuu's; it was the obnoxious prefect's, so she turned in her tracks, and headed in the opposite direction.

She continued to meander through the streets, grateful for the overcast weather, looking like she was casually window shopping, while she tried to pick up some hint of Kiryuu. For, in all honesty, her interest in the boy had been growing since she first laid eyes on him and he proved himself not to be a fool. After all, it was more than she could say of Hideaki; Oh! How she bemoaned her blasted heart and its damned insistence, why couldn't it be a bit more fickle like those of the maddening Day Class girls!

Shiroyama stood in front of a small boutique, staring at a frilly summer dress when her senses finally drew her from her thoughts and into a less favorable reality. The wind carried the beckoning scent of Kiryuu's blood from somewhere nearby. Glancing around her, Shiroyama noticed some people rubbing their necks in discomfort, others looked slightly in pain, and a few had eyes glazing over in a faint red. Whether the hunter had foolishly injured himself or was involved in some sort of altercation this didn't bode well. Quickly, she fortified herself, and slipped into the shadows in search of Kiryuu.

To say she was horrified by the sight that she came upon was an understatement. She could not even gather the courage to look in the direction of Kiryuu's heady scent, so her eyes stuck to the slender female figure in front of her. Her slightly eccentric Aunt Kiyomizu, who had once bought Shiroyama her first and favorite childhood ball gown, currently held the once familiar smelling hunter brat in her arms. But now the boy smelled a mix of tears, sweat, and urine, as Aunt Kiyomizu slowly and deliberately licked up the boy's neck. The only good thing being that the boy was not yet bitten.

Instinct took over; protect the family, even from themselves. If her aunt turned a hunter, the consequence would be death.

Shiroyama directed her powers at her aunt, who froze then loosened her grip on the boy. With all her strength, Shiroyama slammed herself into her aunt taking them both through the neighboring wall.

Kioshi fell to his knees, heaving in sobs.

A gun shot rang out.

There was a blinding flash, and a new scent hit the air. Pureblood.

Almost too quick to comprehend another presence joined, when Shiroyama recognized his scent she relaxed slightly, until his mere aura began pulling the air from her lungs, and made her feel as if the very blood in her veins was drying up. Had her blood been any less pure, her body would have disintegrated on spot.

All the while, her aunt merrily giggled, momentarily stopping to whisper in her sweet, nearly childish voice "Do you wish your mother to share my pain, dear Akako-chan?"

* * *

><p>Kuran was mildly aware of a muted whisper to his right, and had the vague impression that a sobbing boy was crawling out of the alley, but didn't pay either much heed, neither was a threat. What held his attention was the grotesque, yet elegant scene in front of him. Zero's unconscious, bleeding form was draped from the arms of the pureblood beast still feasting on him, into a tangle of vines, which wound from the tip of Bloody Rose up his firing arm, and anchored down into the ground, and then sprawled out from the earth, up his legs and around the blond pureblood vampire behind him. Underneath the areas where the vines had ripped through the purebloods clothes Kuran could see the poisoned skin turning into shattering obsidian. Even unconscious Zero's willpower was apparently still fighting back, but not quickly enough.<p>

Unbidden, Kuran could feel vitriol seeping from his bones, and being pumped throughout his body. Without further thought, Kaname was by the other pureblood's side, taloned-hands gripping into the dazed beast's throat, tearing him from the soft flesh of Kiryuu's nearly drained form and slamming him into the ground, the tangle of vines stubbornly clinging to the beast and securing his limbs. Logic only wormed its way through his flurry of emotions when Kaname's hand rested firmly above the creature's heart, ready to rip it out.

A fight broke out nearby, but neither presence was new, so Kuran remained focused on the pureblood he was holding, Shiroyama was on her own.

The blond pureblood looked up at him, half-drunk on the hunter's blood, the smears of which his searching tongue was currently lapping up, the corners of his mouth slowly turning up at his would-be executioner. A manic light played in his eyes. "What a delectable boy," the blond's focus shifted over to where the hunter lay, partly-cushioned by a bed of vines, and he licked his lips again.

Kuran could feel a low growl forming within his throat, but immediately suppressed it. He needed to think, not allow his emotions to cloud his judgment. He thought his time away from Kiryuu had helped to clear his head of the unwanted attachment he had for the boy. So why was he reacting so impulsively, so instinctually? Kiryuu was an ex-human, for a pureblood to feel free to drain an unclaimed ex-human was far from abnormal. It was part of their long-standing culture. Sure, he was beginning to feel slightly fond of Kiryuu and he had agreed to protect him, but this situation should not have surprised him, he should _not_ be this upset.

The blond wriggled under Kamane's hold, trying to edge himself closer to Zero's unconscious body, "so delicious". Shifting, Kamane pressed him down more firmly into the ground, but the beast was still squirming, struggling more-so with the restraining vines which bit into his skin and lessened his vampiric abilities, than Kuran's hold, "the smell, so delicious… he's still bleeding."

That caught Kaname's attention. Having arrived partway through the assault, Kuran had no inkling of how much blood this poor-excuse for a pureblood had actually taken from Kiryuu. Stick vacuum suction onto someone's jugular- Kuran had no doubt this beast had punctured Kiryuu's jugular-and it would take less then a minute to bleed them dry. Kuran had seen it happen before-his uncle had always been a messy eater. While maintaining his mental and visual focus on the pureblood, Kaname's hearing pressed for the sound, the soft pattering of Zero's heart. Disgust coiled in Kuran's stomach, if someone did not attend to him soon, Zero would bleed out and turn to ash.

Vampire or not, Zero was still very much mortal. The hunter's normal healing capabilities were hindered by blood-loss. Zero needed blood.

Restraining the urge to curse, Kuran began dragging the pureblood and its tangle of vines over towards Zero, stopping when the beast lay perpendicular to Kiryuu, by his head.

Once the pureblood lay next to Zero, the blond began fidgeting like a small child, trying to get closer to Zero's torn neck. But Kuran held him down, and the vines seemed to squeeze more tightly into the beast's skin.

Though Kuran had been trying to avoid inhaling Kiryuu's scent since he arrived, it was now unavoidable, and his eyes latched onto the seeping wound. But somehow, Kuran maintained his inhuman self-control. He dared not lick the wound close, remembering how much he lost himself to its taste last time; in his current situation it would be dangerous to diminish any part of his awareness. But, if the hunter received pureblood, the boy would recuperate, physically at least. That is where this blond beast would come into play.

Despite the legal sin he was about to commit, under the given circumstances-with the council yet to be reestablished, Kiryuu unknowingly being vampire society's newest idol, and the mental state of this rogue pureblood-Kaname felt it was the best move. So he pushed the beast's head aside, exposing the length of his neck, and bit down.

He was unprepared for the torrent of images that hit him, vivid and uncontrolled.

It tasted of struggle.

Scenes from the hunter's memories flashed through Kaname's mind, the raw fear and pain turning into a violent thrashing.

Kuran could taste the other pureblood's sadism as he continued to tear through the young hunter's memories, like a vandal pulling pages from a living book to leave them scattered about the floor. The bastard who had nearly killed Kiryuu was also tormenting him through the beginnings of an unnecessarily violent possession. Shit.

After swallowing the first mouthful he took another and removed his fangs from the other purebloods neck.

With his right hand holding the other pureblood at bay, Kuran leaned over Kiryuu. His nimble left hand caressed the soft warm flesh of Kiryuu's chin as he tenderly tilted the hunter's head and brought his thumb up to part Zero's soft, pale lips. As Kuran looked down at Zero, he tried to keep his mind off of what he was doing, he tried to convince himself that he was doing this only to save Kiryuu's life; he tried to convince himself that this was the best way, the operative word being tried.

Moving his hand, Kuran lowered his head 'til he could feel the hints of Kiryuu's soft breaths on his blood-moistened lips. After a second's hesitation, of flaring senses, unruly hormones, and unwanted emotional turmoil, Kuran gently brushed his lips into Kiryuu's. His nerve-endings burst to life with a maddening tingling sensation, which urged him to press more fully into Zero's delicate, parted lips. Kuran's thoughts faded as the hunter overwhelmed his senses: sight, smell, touch, and oh how he wanted….

The rustling of the pureblood under his right hand brought him back to reality, and he allowed his lips to part, tongue guiding the blood into Zero's waiting mouth. A tongue that would betray him, as it tasted Zero, and felt the urge to wander, sliding in blithely past parted lips into the sweet, sensual expanse of Zero's mouth.

Again, the pureblood's tossing drew Kaname out of bliss and back into the horrid reality of his actions. Kaname quickly withdrew, sitting bolt upright, staring at Zero's mouth, calling to him with the enrapturing, lethal melody of a siren's song.

He could hear the cackling of the disturbed pureblood, under the rush of his own thoughts.

What had he just done?

Kuran's eyes flicked to Zero's, the boy was still unconscious, then back to Kiryuu's mouth, the blood already drained down his throat; then to his neck, the wound was not yet healed. He would need more blood. For a moment Kuran remained still, his body pushing him to deliver another mouthful of blood, and maybe sneak a small taste while his mind tried to come up with a better alternative.

Turning his focus back towards the beast, Kuran lowered his head and took another mouthful of blood; his body had won. The beast was still wreaking havoc on Kiryuu's mind. Kaname could see the night Shizuka attacked, playing on a loop in Kiryuu's head; he could taste the terror of that small child, the push of fangs into his virgin neck, a feeling which was linked painfully back to more recent memories.

Kuran withdrew from the purebloods neck. This time, he was particularly careful, as he guided the blood into the boy, damning his tongue when it tried to venture further than necessary. He needed to remain aware damn it. When Kuran finished transferring his third mouthful of blood with concerted effort, he took a moment to gaze at Kiryuu; the wound in his neck was beginning to heal.

All the while, whether being bitten, drained, or simply restrained the pureblood chortled and muttered incessantly. "You're _his_ queen… so delicious… if I don't possess you, _he_ will… _he_ will win the game… _he_ will send you out, and win the game…."

Kuran had enough; he gripped the pureblood's face, turning it towards him, and forcing the pureblood to make eye contact. Slowly, clearly he stated, "Get _out_ of his head."

Something flashed in the pureblood's eyes, like a faint recognition of Kuran's existence, but most of his mind appeared to be elsewhere, likely still plunging deeper into Kiryuu's memories. Yet he finally spoke semi-coherently, eyes wide "We can't escape it. _He_ has been toying with us from the beginning, always in the shadows, always watching through others' eyes. _His_ eyes are everywhere. _His_ pawns… we are all simply _his _pawns he played us so well… and" his eyes travelled from Kuran to his mouth, to Zero. He stifled a giggle, "and you have fallen for _his_ queen." His laughing turned hysterical at his last words.

Kuran's eyes glued to the fading pureblood, his voice lethal once again, "Who is threatening my sister?"

The mad vampire's hysterical fit increased, in volume and pitch, with only the barely lucid mumblings of about a "delicious queen," until suddenly the blond beast's laughter died out. A look of concentration shadowed the blonde's face; he had found something in the hunter's mind.

Without that blasted laughter Kuran could hear the ruckus of level D and E's congregating near the edges of the alley, unable to enter without being disintegrated by his aura. But then he sensed a different presence, looking up in time to see Sadayo striding into the alleyway, parting the sea of ex-humans.

As Sadayo continued closer Kuran could see the red edging into Sadayo's eyes.

Sadayo was a threat.

"Sadayo-san, your fiancée needs assistance, it would be best if you attend to her," it was as close to a warning as Kuran would give the other pureblood.

But Sadayo didn't heed it and continued forward.

"My oh my, what have we here?"

* * *

><p>AN: First THANK YOU! to all of you who continue to read my story, especially those of you who review. I love writing, but honestly it's the reviewers who keep me going with this story, SO THANK YOU!

Secondly, my apologies for this being so short. This is less than half of what I initially wanted to post as a chapter, but it is taking me so long to write that I thought I should post something at least. The good news is I already have sections of the next chapter written, the bad new is I still have a lot yet to write. My apologies.

Also, if you thinks its to soon for everything that just happened, my apologies, it just kinda worked out that way...but it will only help build the UST for following chapters, and ... and ... I tried not to forget about who my characters are and I will do my best not to rush things.

Lastly, for those of you who choose to review I have a couple questions:

1) Do you prefer longer chapters or more frequent postings? Is this chapter too short?

2) I know I spent quiet a bit of time with one of the OC's this chapter. Was it interesting boring? Did it add to the story or detract from it?

Um... the next chapter is partly written, but I am always open to suggestions and constructive criticism, if you think I am ruining my story please tell me, but tell me why too, please.


	9. The Belltower

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knights or any of its characters.

Warning: language, slightly sexual content, mild OOCness and use of OCs

* * *

><p>"<em>My oh my, what have we here?<em> Kuran on his knees, I never thought I would see the day. But do tell me, how is the air down there? I must say I have quite forgotten how it feels to stoop so low."

Kuran's posture straightened minutely, and he turned so he was partly facing Sadayo. He would not back down. In fact…"the air down here smells sweet," Kuran held his voice at a monotone.

Sadayo's eyebrow irked, elongated fangs pushing into his lip as his eyes shifted from Kuran to Zero's figure. "Sweet indeed," Sadayo muttered softly to himself as he continued closer to the hunter's bloodied form, only to be halted by a low growl. "Come now Kuran, so long as you two are sharing-"

"Kiryuu is a hunter, not a social snack," _Etiquette be damned_!

"Well, that is a wee bit hypocritical, now isn't it?" an edge of irritation hitched in Sadayo's voice; he was not used to being denied, but ever since he arrived at Cross Academy, Kuran seemed to do nothing but constantly deny him of the one thing he wanted, and what he wanted was Kiryuu. His intention had never been to drain the boy, but at this point, his hunger for Kiryuu was magnified by the boy's keen absence, and any sort of contact would do.

Kuran felt the urge to curse as he noted in his periphery the vines restraining the other pureblood's limbs begin to wriggle and loosen. The moments the deranged pureblood spent in silence and absolute concentration plunging into Kiryuu's mind were paying off. Zero was losing. The vines were retreating.

Sadayo took Kuran's lack of response as an invitation to continue forward. Now he stood only a few feet from where Kuran knelt, Kuran being the only remaining obstacle between him and the origin of that overwhelming aroma, Kiryuu.

Kuran growled again, he needed to move the blond away from Zero, before he was completely free, but Sadayo couldn't be trusted with Zero's well-being, especially when he looked on the brink of bloodlust. "I warned you before, stay back. If you choose not to heed my advice, I will not be responsible for my actions."

Sadayo's eyes narrowed, and then he smirked and began to take another step forward. The vines released the blonde's right arm; Kuran acted. Gripping the pureblood's throat Kuran dragged the blond back, grabbing his freed arm, spinning him, and pinning face down into the dirt. Kuran's eyes shot up quickly enough to catch Sadayo closing the space between him and Zero. Instinctually, he hit Sadayo with a kinetic blast, sending him six meters back, thru a wall, and into the Kiyomizu female.

The woman's taloned hand shot out.

Sadayo was pushed aside to land in the dust.

A scream echoed.

The scent of blood hit the air.

Shiroyama stood, breathing erratically, clinging to the arm that went straight through her chest, just left of her heart.

A nervous giggle sounded, until that saccharine voice murmured "so the game of cat and mouse has finally ended."

"THIS IS NOT SOME FUCKING GAME!" Shiroyama screamed. "WHAT THE HELL-" a cough overtook her, and her blood spattered onto her aunt's pristine face.

A moment passed, a skirmish could be heard outside, and something hostile was coming closer. The sound of Shiroyama's coughs and the soft whimper off in a corner were drowned out by a scuffling sound, as brazen level E's, far from their sanity began to climb into the building, the smell of pureblood bidding them forward.

Sadayo's ice blue eyes shifted from the figure of his wounded fiancée to the small army that was converging on them, and he rose to his feet. He would not involve himself with family squabbles, but he would punish these E's for even contemplating the taste of pureblood, so he attacked.

The aunt did not move, not even to wipe her face. "Akako-chan? Don't you know Akako-chan?"

Shiroyama held in her coughs, instead drawing in rattling breaths. "What?"

"_He _took our son. And the game is all over now. We will perish. Our deaths have been sentenced."

Shiroyama's eyes narrowed in disgust and she spit red at the feet of the woman before her. "I was wrong, you're not my aunt."

The woman's head tilted, "Do you not recognize your own flesh and blood, Akako-chan?"

Shiroyama pushed herself backward, inching off the arm that impaled her. "I give you your sight back woman, open your eyes and you will know that we are not kin."

The woman blinked, sight slowly returning, vague trickles of reality beginning to drip back into her eyes. "Akako, my niece-"

Shiroyama wrenched herself from the arm staggering back, "My Aunt had two sons, she had two fucking sons, and one of them is still fucking alive. So don't give me this shit. If you are so cowardly as to allow despair to feast on your mind, then I don't know you. My Aunt still has one fucking son alive, she still has a family, someone to protect, but you-" another cough seized the young pureblood.

Her aunt's eyes widened, she rushed Akako, morphing into a shadow which engulfed the young pureblood, before turning both into a murder of crows and flying from the building.

Sadayo remained, draining the figure that turned to ash in his grasp.

* * *

><p>Kuran was momentarily preoccupied with the Kiyomizu female's abduction of Shiroyama, when a stinging slice went up his back. Instinctually, Kuran swept back from his attacker.<p>

The blond male rolled to his feet, free from the vines that once bound him. In his ashen hand, he held the broken, withering vine he had used to lash Kuran, and on his sullied face he wore a disturbing grin.

Kuran's instincts had been his own worst enemy. Kiryuu lay unguarded at the blonde's feet, and his quickened heartbeat rushed the hunter poison to his mind, clouding his natural vampiric powers. Then, Kuran sensed it.

The blond must have too, for he looked towards the edge of the alley, just as a Hunter's arrow was shot clean through his heart. A gunshot to the head quickly flowed, then a shuriken to the shoulder, each hit, bringing the pureblood successively to his knees, then to lay upon the earth, where his body finally shattered into volcanic dust.

There, at the alley's entrance stood Yagari, flanked by three other senior hunters that Kuran did not yet know.

"Touga, you're getting out of practice behind that desk at HQ," a man with a bow taunted.

Yagari ignored the comment as his long strides quickly brought him to his apprentice's side. There he took a knee, before nimbly checking the boy's vitals. Then he turned an accusing eye on Kuran.

"Kaien called me up; said you were looking for Zero. So what the hell happened to him?"

However, the hunters' curses interrupted, as Sadayo emerged from the building, effectively shielding himself with Kioshi's body.

"I believe this belongs to you," Sadayo said smoothly, his hand gripping the boy's collar.

The boy had tear-streaked cheeks, and was still blubbering, arms raised in surrender.

"Dammit boy, we're not gonna shot you, so man up," the man with the bow, presumably Kioshi's teacher, grumbled.

Yagari got up from his place stating, "We'll continue this conversation later Kuran," before making his way over to the crowd to play diplomat.

* * *

><p>In the end, Sadayo released Kioshi once he had the hunters' word they wouldn't shot him, for the time being at least. Kuran did his best to tend to Zero's injuries, but was greatly hindered by the aura of distrust emanating from the senior hunters, and ended up riding back to Cross Academy in a car with Kioshi, Sadayo, Yagari, and an unconscious Kiryuu. The ride was…uncomfortable. Perhaps the only fortunate thing about the circumstance was Zero's blood had already dried, lessening the intensity of his scent, so the ride was bearable, uncomfortable but bearable.<p>

When they finally pulled up to Cross Academy, Zero began to stir, eyes opening, but remaining vacant, his features expressionless. Zero was conscious, but not truly awake. Yagari remembered that look; it was the one he wore after Shizuka attacked his family. He was the perfect china doll: beautifully crafted, exquisite and unblemished, easily led around, hollow. Mind frayed.

Yagari took Kioshi to the Chairman's office, reluctant to let Zero out of his sight, let alone in the hands of two purebloods, but after a stern warning (perhaps more appropriately a threat to their lives) Yagari headed towards Cross's office to inform him of Zero's condition.

Meanwhile, a rumbling growl sounded from Kuran every time Sadayo set foot within a two meter radius of him and Kiryuu, as he guided the hunter into the Chairman's house.

They were greeted by the sound of Yuuki's giggles, accompanied by the alto chuckle belonging to Kawakami. But, it was stopped short and followed by the scrapping of chairs and hurried footsteps as the two purebloods rounded the corner to see the three individuals entering the house.

Yuuki gasped as she took in Zero's appearance and then started to rush towards the pair, arms immediately going wide to embrace Zero's bloodied form. Every instinct in her being screamed to protect the dear boy, her best friend, but the logic of how to do so fled from her, and so she now sought only to hold him.

But she was met by a stilling hand, placed on her shoulder; her eyes traced the hand to the arm and up to her brother.

"He's dangerous right now, he lost a lot of blood," Kuran tried to explain.

Yuuki pushed his hand away, and grabbed one of Zero's, looking into his eye's to be met with that same blank expression that had frightened her when she first met him, the expression that she had worked tirelessly to wash away.

She was so focused on Zero that she missed the dejection flit across Kuran's face, or Kawakami moving to stand behind her, so she jumped when his voice sounded from above her.

"What happened?"

Kuran remained in silence, but Sadayo took this as an opportunity to enter the house, and began explaining, "We found him in the Kiyomizu's territory."

Kawakami allowed a look of surprise, that didn't quite reach his eyes, though his expression quickly changed to one of seriousness, "and Akako-san, where is she?"

Sadayo looked at him blankly, "You two are quite familiar, aren't you? She is somewhere, I suppose, her Aunt took her."

Kawakami's eyebrow arched and his eyes narrowed in on Sadayo, then he turned to Kuran, "What happened?"

Peeling his eyes from his sister, Kaname looked at Kawakami, "I'm unclear of the details; I was otherwise engaged when she was injured."

In a flash, Sadayo and Kawakami were face to face. "I smell her blood on you, so tell me what happened."

Sadayo glared at the brunets, and spat "she's not my responsibility. I never wanted her."

The next moment, Sadayo was slammed through the wall and into the pedestal sink of the adjacent water-closet.

"You bastard," Kawakami seethed, towering over Sadayo, all genteel manners gone. "You just left her out there!"

Sadayo was not one to be smashed through a wall, insulted, and just take it, so he began to charge Kawakami.

However, he never made it to his destination as he was thrown backwards, by kinetic energy. Kuran would side with Kawakami.

Kawakami glared at Sadayo, and jabbed a rather pointy finger into his chest, "Don't you get it, you imbecile? She could die. It's not safe out there. We are being hunted down damn it."

Kuran looked at Kawakami, this boy knew more then he was letting on, but before Kawakami could be questioned further, he fragmented into peregrine falcons and flew out the door spreading in every direction.

When the fray of feathers cleared, Yuuki edged from Kiryuu's side to help Sadayo out of the rubble, but again Kaname reached out to grab her. "Don't, he doesn't deserve your kindness Yuuki."

Yuuki turned a questioning eye to her brother.

But Sadayo was the one to respond as he pushed himself out of the porcelain rubble. "So you knew she took the hit for me?" his tone slippery, like ice.

"I had my suspicions."

"But you chose not to tell the whack-job-"

"Kawakami has a decency you do not possess."

"Yes, the decency to prance around with your bride behind your back."

Kuran's eyebrow twitched and Yuuki flinched at his accusation. "Enough," he stated.

A smirk slithered its way onto Sadayo's face, "So if Kawakami is in such great standing with you, why did you not tell him?"

"If I do not see something clearly, I am not the type to make accusations."

Sadayo chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair. "Of course your highness, I forgot that you move at the pace of a gallant snail, and ensure that the trail you leave is clear, even if it's sticky. Be careful little princess or you might mess up Mr. Squeaky-Clean's record in the eyes of-"

"Leave," Kuran interrupted in a monotone, his aura growing heavy, making Yuuki turn toward her brother, trying to ignore the tears collecting in her eyes. She knew, she knew she was a screw-up that only dragged Kaname down, and it was eating away at her, every part of her, she was trying, but the accusation just brought all of the feelings to the surface once again.

"Where are your manners Kuran-sama?" Sadayo continued to mock.

"I said leave," Kuran remained calm but took a step towards Sadayo, pushing Yuuki and Zero's, now slightly swaying, shell behind him.

The stare-down between the two purebloods was cut short by the distant scream of "ZERO-RIN," before a man followed by a cartoonish cloud of dust burst through the open doorway and would have tackled the Zero-doll if Kaname hadn't tugged him aside to prevent further injury.

Seeing the Chairman, Sadayo quickly slipped out of the house.

After getting up from the floor Cross made his way over to Kaname, Yuuki, and Zero, "how is he?" he asked, tears streaming freely down his face, and a pout prominent on his lips.

Kaname repressed a sigh, before stating, "Kiryuu is stubborn, he will recover."

When Cross looked like he was about to protest for further information, Kaname's gaze pointed at Yuuki, and Kaien immediately changed his tactics.

"Ah! Zero-rin is all bloody," he whined, "perhaps Yuuki-chan you could go clean him up?"

Yuuki immediately agreed-happy to help in any way she could-grabbed Zero's hand and began to pull him towards the stairwell, when she was met with resistance. Kuran was firmly holding Kiryuu in place.

"Cross-san, excuse my objection, but I don't think it would be decent…"

A blush immediately bloomed on Yuuki's face as she realized what washing Zero up would entail. When they were young, sex-less children it didn't matter that she cleaned him, poured her love into him. But now, Zero was grown, and such actions were inappropriate, how had she forgotten such a simple truth?

Cross too seemed to take in some of Kuran's words, and realize his plans fault. "Ah! My poor, dear, innocent, little Yuuki-chan and Zero-rin, how could I even suggest such a thing? Yuuki, I know its daytime, but I have a special task for you."

Yuuki's eyes widened at the Chairman. It may have been foolish, but she greatly missed the silly errands (or missions as the Chairman liked to call them) the old man sent her on, so she nodded her head in agreement before even knowing the task.

"There is a tea sold at the West to East Market in town, it is supposed to help with neurological processes."

Yuuki nodded emphatically, and quickly left.

Kaname turned to Cross, "You didn't even give her the name of the tea."

"It will give us time; I already got some of the story from Kioshi and Yagari, and I believe we both have different pieces to the same puzzle. I want to know everything you sensed," Cross stated, then he looked at Zero's shell, and his face melted into one of wary relief, "my poor boy," then he turned back to Kuran, "we'll talk everything over while getting him cleaned up."

Kuran complied, mostly because he could not come up with a respectable enough excuse to avoid multitasking. The excuse that it would be indecent for him to see Kiryuu in a state of undress did not seem feasible either, so he would simply endure the torment. Though perhaps, if he had known ahead of time how difficult it would be for him to endure, he would have settled for any excuse at all.

* * *

><p>The reality of the torment he had signedhimself up for finally hit Kuran when they both stood in the bathroom and the Chairman slowly began peeling off Kiryuu's bloodied t-shirt, careful not to disturb any potential wounds were the dried blood adhered fabric to flesh.<p>

Kuran tried to pull his gaze from Kiryuu when he realized the effect watching the ivory and blood soaked skin flirt with him and draw his eyes further and further up the sculpted curves of the hunter's muscled stomach was having on him. He tried not to falter in his recounting, or let his eyes devour Kiryuu's shell in a way that Cross would notice. He knew he was failing.

But to his great relief, he didn't have much to say, especially since he left out the portion of his feeding Kiryuu pureblood, and soon finished his tale. Cross turned from Kiryuu and began filling him in on Kioshi's account of Zero's sacrifice, and Shiroyama's rescue of the adolescent hunter, and eventually Sadayo. But it was difficult for Kuran to focus with Zero sitting on the edge of the tub, his torso exposed and yet covered in sweet smelling blood.

Kuran forced his eyes closed and took a breath. He needed to control himself, or distract himself, or get that blood off the boy. _Perhaps_… Moving from the wall he was leaning against, Kuran went to the counter, he picked up a cloth, wetting it with warm water, and turned towards Zero.

Cross backed up, a subtle smile coming to his lips, as Kuran knelt next to his dear son, and in gentle, very controlled, movements began wiping away the blood dried. Before Kuran could notice the change in Kaien's demeanor he quickly continued with Kioshi's story.

Kioshi had hidden himself in the building after realizing how greatly the level E's in the streets outnumbered him, only to find his tormentor and savior stalking through his stronghold's shadows.

Kioshi's tale helped Kuran reaffirm his assumptions about Sadayo, and feel the symptoms of pity for Kiryuu begin to stir in the pit of his stomach. Kiryuu had allowed himself to be attacked, to prevent someone else from suffering his fate, and nearly lost his life for it. But pity was not an appropriate for such strength. A strength that was held in lean muscles, clothed in a delicate skin. A skin that promised pleasurable sensations as it begged to be touched, adored, penetrated….

Abruptly, Kuran got to his feet turned towards the sink, and began rinsing the cloth. Once the water ran clear again, he turned off the faucet and handed the towel to Cross.

"If there is nothing more…"

Cross allowed a waning smile as he took the cloth from Kaname, "Of course, I am certain that the recent turn of events will turn into a political nightmare."

Kuran nodded, and exited, perhaps a little more stiff than normal. If he did not exercise self-control he feared Zero would be his downfall.

Cross turned towards his 'son' and his expression gentled, until a soft smile found its way onto Kaien's face. "So Zero-rin, Aido-kun tells me you're walking bat-nip." Cross received no response, the young hunter still lost in his mind, but Kaien continued his playful one-sided banter as he cleaned his dear son.

* * *

><p>Yuuki, despite her pervious experience as a human, soon found herself seeking the serenity of the shadows as she continued to wander through town, having forgotten where the West to East Market was situated. She was about to take a right when a voice called out to her.<p>

"I believe you want to take a left."

Yuuki wiped around to see Sadayo leaning against the wall, a disinterested look on his face.

"Ah, Sadayo-san…"

Sadayo pushed himself off the wall and casually walked towards Yuuki, "No need to look so horrified, I won't do anything," Yuuki's eyes widen as Sadayo lowered his head so he was looking at her at eye level, "little Princess." He smirked before straightening up. "You were sent out here to find a tea shop correct?" Yuuki nodded. "Then you're going the wrong way."

"H-how do you know?" Yuuki asked,becoming slightly flustered.

"How long have you lived here?" Sadayo asked with eyebrow raised.

"Um…"

"This is getting us nowhere," Sadayo stated before reaching out and grabbing Yuuki's hand, tugging her in the direction he instructed earlier.

Yuuki was silent for a moment before timidly whispering, "why are you helping me?"

"This is for Zero, no? I want him to recover quickly."

Yuuki halted, only to be pulled forward again be Sadayo's hand, which caused her to stumble awkwardly.

"You truly care for Zero-kun?"

"Haven't I made my intentions rather obvious? Besides, I owe him."

Yuuki again stumbled awkwardly, "What do you mean?" Sadayo stayed silent, and kept walking. Yuuki allowed the conversation to drop, before another question pried itself from her lips, "What about Shiroyama-sempai?"

"I don't want her."

Yuuki pouted, "Ne, that's really mean."

"Less cruel than leading her on falsely and then chasing after someone else" Sadayo mumbled.

Yuuki couldn't tell why but she felt like that comment was directed at her, so she slipped-up, her pureblood façade of politeness, strength and indifference already seemed shattered the way Sadayo was dragging her around like a rag doll. "I am not chasing after someone else, I love Kaname," she yelled, pulling her hand from Sadayo's.

At this the other pureblood turned around to face her, a smirk tugging at his lips. "I am certain, my dear, that being in love, though difficult, doesn't cause you to hate yourself. It doesn't cause you to fear that a single hair out of place will distance you from your partner's perfection. It doesn't allow you to run from them when you feel like crying. Being in love isn't distancing yourself from your lover, little Princess, it binds you to them. Though you may feel imperfect beside them, you cannot help but seek them out. You cannot run from them, for their embrace is your goal."

Yuuki was stunned into silence for a moment, until she couldn't help but ask, "Is that how you feel about Shiroyama-sempai?"

Without hesitation he answered, "There is an undeniable distance between us, no doubt, but it wasn't me we were just discussing, it was you." With that Sadayo pointed to the stores back, "this is the back entrance to the tea shop, I'll leave you here."

As soon as Sadayo was gone, Yuuki's knees buckled, the tears came and she sat, replaying the words that chipped away at her already breaking heart.

* * *

><p>When it was nearing evening Kuranfelt Yuuki's aura, changing from one of enthusiasm to dread as she neared the Moon Dorms. He looked at the clock on his wall, before returning his gaze to the chess board in front of him. His mind too unnerved to attempt sleep; Kuran had opted instead to examine the game he was only now beginning to play, his encounter with the Kiyomizu's had been a rude awakening. Unlike the game against his Uncle, which he had planned for years, he knew relatively little about what lay before him, and what pieces he had to play. Perhaps worse, he could not help but feel that he was not the player this time, he was not in control, but instead a measly piece in someone else's master plan.<p>

And then, he sensed something quite unexpected, the auras of several of the newer nobles sneaking from the Moon Dorms and traveling in the direction of the Chairman's house. Without a second thought Kuran moved and within a few seconds he was standing in front of a group of five noble women armed with camera's and rope.

The simple arch of his elegant brow summoned several squeaks and "forgive us Kaname-sama"s as the group rushed away. Standing alone, Kuran decided to continue the noblewomen's venture and visit Kiryuu. He walked to the house, and noticed the Chairman was not nearby, he sent his senses out and noticed that the prefects were in the infirmary instead of making rounds. All in all, Kiryuu was unguarded.

When he peered into Kiryuu's room, he felt an unwanted sense of protectiveness gurgle within him; it had been so easy to reach the boy who now lay vulnerable in his bed. The boy twitched in his sleep and Kuran moved closer. Written on Zero's face were signs of anguish, and his body twisted, messing up the sheet on top of him. Zero's discomfort proved his mind was healing, but nonetheless Kuran placed his hand on Zero's forehead, blanketing him in a calming aura, he did not want to see such a face on the boy.

Looking to his left, Kuran noticed a small chair besides the bed; it was covered in Yuuki's scent. _So this is why she was happy before she returned; she was with Zero._

Zero twitched again, releasing a slight whimper from his lips, drawing Kuran's attention back to the unconscious form. Back to those lips, which had tasted so divine when they…_it wasn't a kiss, I was simply feeding him_. But the taste still lingered in his mind and urged him to bow forward and allow his gustatory and tactile senses to be overwhelmed once again. Instead, he anchored himself to the chair.

However, could not completely deprive himself of a sensory experience and allowed his hands to comb through Zero's soft hair, brushing it away from the hunter's angelic face. When had the hunter become so beautiful? No he had always been stunning… the real question was how had the pureblood prince never allowed himself the time to admire the fair creature before. Kuran allowed his hand to wander from the hunter's baby-soft hair to his smooth cheek, then down his jaw-line, until he could no longer resist the temptation to trace the petal like lips.

When his finger had begun to trace Zero's top lip the hunter's mouth opened and the tip of his tongue snuck out to caress the sensitive finger tip. After a pleasant lingering taste Zero's tongue retreated, but Kaname self-control lapsed and his finger followed the withdrawing tongue, gently probing past Zero's waiting lips. Zero's mouth closed around the finger, as the sleeping hunter sucked it further into the moist hollow of his mouth. With his other hand Kaname tightly gripped the metal seat of his chair, he dared not move otherwise. Gently, Zero's tongue fondled the finger, guided it, and brushed it into the side of a fang.

Kaname felt his skin split and give way under the soft insistent bite. But any pain he may have felt was forgotten as Zero's tongue continued to coddle the finger while he tenderly suckled it. Kuran was not sure whether he was in heaven or hell for the combination of pleasure and torment he was receiving. Zero was wreaking havoc on his self control.

The hunter shifted in his sleep, his body curling towards Kuran and his hands moving up to keep Kaname's hand in place. They stayed like that, Kaname locked in a sweet self-imposed torture as Zero fed.

There were no classes tonight, so there was nothing to stop him from staying by Zero's side. So he stayed well into the midnight hour, until he sensed Kawakami's return, his aura was blazing, but it was accompanied by another weaker aura, distinctive of the Shiroyama household in its distinct lack of definable emotion. Kuran finally roused himself, reluctant to leave the peace of the place and the sleeping hunter.

A gentle knock at the door finally gave him incentive to go, shortly after being replaced at his spot next to the bed by Cross. Shortly after, Kuran wandered into the room where Kawakami had taken up a similar post by Shiroyama's bed.

* * *

><p>It was nearing dawn and Yuuki was still struggling with her homework. She always had trouble in courses, and now was no exception. Her memory was better, she could recall things said, but they all seemed like ghost whispers in the back of her mind, jumbled. And the pieces of information said never seemed quite to click, interlock, or make any sort of sense. So she struggled. But she could tell her brother, the shame was too much. And soon the words that Sadayo said earlier too hear came flaring to the forefront of her mind with a vengeance. Upset she left her room and headed for the hallways, ignoring her surroundings, but unable to suppress Sadayo's voice echoing in her head. It was beginning to sound so real, so close, and saying something…<p>

"I said before she is not my responsibility."

"If you cared for your honor you would not be so pigheaded." It was her brother's voice. Yuuki immediately dimmed her aura.

"What does my honor have to do with this; she is the one that decided to get hit."

"And she did it to protect you. It is your duty to see to it that she heals." Kuran sounded close.

"By who's honor code? I see no law in vampire code-"

"It is code. She is a pureblood, and is to be your mate. So you are duty bound-"

"It was arranged, and I don't want her. I don't love her."

"That changes nothing."

There was a crashing sound, impulsively Yuuki rounded the corner to where the two pureblood stood, Sadayo with his hand through the wall. Kuran noticed her first, eyes widening slightly when he saw her. After withdrawing his fist Sadayo turned to look at Yuuki as well, the red bleeding from his eyes.

Then he quickly walked past Yuuki, the breeze from his movements catching her hair and skirt. Yuuki and Kaname stood there until Sadayo's footfalls faded.

Yuuki's voice was the first to break the silence, though it was timid wavered, "Do you truly feel that way Nii-san?"

"What way?"

"What you said about being duty bound, whether he loves her or not?"

"Yes," his voice steady.

"Do-do you..." the tears began to well, "Are you marrying me out of …Do you love me?"

Kaname stepped forward and Yuuki stepped back, "Yuuki…"

"Answer me," Yuuki stated, a hard edge brought on by anguish infusing her words with strength she didn't feel she possessed at the moment.

"Of course," The words fell from Kuran's lips like a soft caress, contrasting starkly with Yuuki's demand. She didn't move away this time when he came to embrace her, but she couldn't relax into his arms when he embraced her.

"Why?" She didn't understand; she needed to know why.

Kuran looked down at her, uncomprehending, and stated what he knew, "you were born to be my bride," he needed no further reason.

But Yuuki…she put her hands on his stomach and pushed softly, stepping back and freeing herself from his embrace. She would not meet his eyes, "you should stop, let's end this charade."

"Yuuki?"

"We're too different, you…I can't do this anymore." The tears were falling quickly from her eyes now, but she refused to look up at Kaname.

Kuran swallowed, _what have I done, she used to be happy_, "then you're free, I won't stop you," Kaname's voice was a mere whisper. But Yuuki heard it, nodding squeezing her eye's shut and begging the tears to stop, to let her at least retain some minor amount of dignity, but they would not relent. Without even chancing a look at her brother Yuuki turned on her heels, fleeing from the Moon Dorms.

Kuran stood there, trying in some part to understand the calamity which had just occurred. After a minute he took off after Yuuki, oblivious to the wide blue eyes starring through the fist sized hole in their owner's wall. Aidou quickly went to rouse his cousin.

By the time Kaname left the Moon Dorm's and foundYuuki she was already in another's arms.

* * *

><p>Flecks of sunlight peering through the cloudy sky lit the room and caused Zero to stir. He had been in bed for over sixteen hours now and his mind had mended. But it was not until he felt a sharp piercing aura that he jolted from his bed; eyes imbued with fear as his last conscious moments came flooding back to him. His eyes swept the room, and slowly he began to recognize his surroundings. His heart-rate began to calm. Unsteadily, he got up from his bed, taking time with each of his steps. The room smelled overwhelmingly of the Kuran family, and as much as that scent would normally comfort Zero, at the moment he simply needed to be away from anything that triggered his most recent memory of a pureblood. Hesitantly, Zero made his way down the stairs to his favorite room of Cross's house, the kitchen.<p>

It was foolish he knew, but he needed some sense of normalcy, some delusion to cling to at the moment that what he just suffered was a bad nightmare and nothing more. He did not want to find out how everything had ended, why he was still alive, how Kioshi had faired, who else had been taken down. All he wanted was some nice hot tomato soup and the ability to pretend for one more hour that the world was good, and his life peaceful.

He had just finished the soup when a knock came at the door. When he sensed it was a pureblood he immediately tensed, trying to resist the urge to flee upstairs and hid under the cover like he had done when he was a child, but after a few settling breaths Zero headed to the front door.

As he opened the door he was met with a tear soaked, rain drenched Yuuki looking up at him like her world had ended. Instinct took over and Kiryuu opened the door further stepping aside so Yuuki could come into her old home. But he was surprised when instead of Yuuki trudging past him; he was met with a sopping wet hug tight around his middle and Yuuki burying her head into his chest. Slowly, he wrapped an arm around her, guiding her inside to the heart of the house.

Zero had insisted that she change into dry clothes and afterwards she spent an hour or so weeping into his lap as the sat on the couch. Eventually she soothed, and fell asleep.

Carefully, Zero rose, pillowed her head with a pillow and covered her with a blanket before going to the kitchen to re-warm his soup, he poured himself a bowl and ladled another serving into a thermos for Cross.

The soup was warm and good.

After checking that Yuuki was undisturbed, Zero put on his rain jacket and packed the soup before heading over towards the main office of Cross Academy. On his journey, Zero sensed something amiss; several nobles were still walking around the grounds, despite the hour.

To Zero's surprise the first noble he spotted was Takuma, who immediately rushed towards him.

"Zero-kun, have you seen him? Have you seen Kaname-san?" Takuma's tone was urgent.

Zero just blinked at him for a second.

Takuma elaborated, "He disappeared after Yuuki-sama…"

Zero nodded, he had discerned what happened through Yuuki's occasional blubbering phrases. "He isn't on the grounds?"

"We've checked everywhere. Normally, I wouldn't fret over it. It's just that…"

Again, Zero nodded, he understood, this situation was not exactly normal. Pivoting in his spot, Zero headed for the gates, to leave Cross Academy.

* * *

><p>Zero had been wandering in the rain for an hour when his mind began to fog and he found his feet carrying him on a familiar path toward the old bell-tower. As he approached, he could feel a vague tickling of his hunter senses. Letting out a small breath of disbelief, he allowed a soft smile to grace his face as he walked closer to the familiar haven.<p>

After ascending the stairs Zero's eyes locked onto the darkened figure. There the proud, strong prince of the vampire race, the last remaining ancestor of the purebloods, the man who stole the only woman he ever loved, in all his tainted glory, sat in the shadowed, cobwebbed corner, leaning into the wall, unmindful of the dirt and its disgruntled inhabitants. There, in a sullied, white uniform, sat the man who saved his life.

Kuran's eyes pressed shut, "You have your victory now. Have you come to mock me?"

"No," Zero stated in the gentlest voice Kuran had ever heard.

"You have won; Yuuki chose you; for what other reason would you come?" Kuran's voice was sharp, angry, and exhausted.

"She didn't choose me over you."

"Than why did she run to your arms?"

"Comfort, nothing more"

"And you expect me to believe that she only sees you as a comforter?"

After Zero did not answer, it remained quiet for several minutes, until Kuran murmured "I am a pureblood, the purest of all the vampire line. I should have known better the fullness of our kind's curse. Whether I will it or not, I will drain dry those around me. I do not even need to drink a drop of their blood, and yet within a month of my company, I will have consumed the very liveliness of their souls. What a monster I am."

"A monster…," Zero echoed, volume barely above a breath, he knew well what it felt like to be a monstrosity. His eyes focused on the cloudy sky as he walked over towards one of the open sides of the tower, leaned against the wall's edge and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and all tenseness bleed out of his form. "The air up here is different," Zero's eyes finally connected with Kuran's.

Kaname sat still, entranced by that man who dared to intrude on his anguish. Zero's gaze went back out towards the town and then down to the alleys below, the soft glow of the day illuminated Kiryuu's subdued brilliance. Kuran caught his own gaze shifting from one of appreciation for Kiryuu's general aesthetic value to one of yearning as his eyes honed in on Zero's delicate lips. A feeling of slight self-revulsion swelled and caught in his throat. _Yuuki…_

"I came up here after you and Yuuki first left," a gentle smiled settled its self on those beautiful lips, and Kaname caught himself staring again, wanting to feel them on his own lips once more. "This place, it suited me then. Make a wrong step, lose focus for a moment, catch the wind wrong, and it's all over. No one would even recognize me. And with Yuuki gone, no one would notice I was missing." Zero's smile turned lightly self-reproving. "But it wasn't fair to put my life in her hands. My life was a burden to her. She had to carry the weight of being the center of my world for so long. It was never fair to her."

The words settled into Kuran's mind, until he swallowed them down and allowed them to echo throughout the chambers of his heart.

After a few minutes of silence Zero's quiet voice sounded once again. "The last time I was up here," _I was so alone,_ "I was praying for a gust of wind."

A slight pain caught in Zero's eyes before serenity and fondness painted over his features; Kaname could not help but be intrigued.

Zero turned to face Kuran, giving him a gentle smile, "When the wind came, it didn't topple me as I had hoped. Instead, it gave me purpose. It carried the scent of a level E and a mother and child. I got there in time. They're both fine now. They live in a small house across town. I go see them about every two weeks, though they don't remember how we met."

Zero's eyelids fluttered, and he turned to gaze at the city once more, feeling slightly foolish for talking so much, but after a brief pause, he continued nevertheless. "I had it wrong. I used to think being a hunter was about killing. About hunting vampires as the name suggests, as our culture suggests, so I hated myself. It was easy, easier than the truth." He faltered for a moment, tasting the words on his tongue before he said more.

"But Hunter's didn't originate to hunt vampires like a sport. They weren't created for the senseless eradication of another species. They were created to protect, and I had forgotten that. We were never meant to hate, simply to protect. Thanks to Ichiru," Zero swallowed painfully, his eyes shutting, "I am strong enough now… to protect."

Kuran was in awe that Zero was sharing so openly about himself, it was a welcome distraction from his own woes, but it was also a curiosity. When Zero seemed lost in his thoughts, Kuran found himself asking, "Why are you telling me this?"

Zero's eyes met Kaname's, "I don't know how you feel. I don't know how everything that happened today will affect you. But I know what I went through, and that… you are not alone."

_Not Alone. 'You are not alone.' I am not alone._ Kuran found he was soaking up those words like a parched sponge. He needed those words more anything in his life. It almost seemed like a mirage in the desert to be hearing them now, and from Zero.

The soft sound of footsteps brought Kuran back to the present, Kiryuu was standing next to him, handing him something. "It should still be warm. I'm not sure that you'll like it, but if you're hungry or cold, it should help a little."

Kaname accepted the container, it was a thermos. He opened the lid and the scent of fresh tomato soup found him as the steam rose and warmed his chilled face. A small smile found its way to Kaname's face. With everything that happened recently, it was funny to think that his childish goal from almost two weeks ago was about to be accomplished, now of all times. He would finally eat some of Zero's cooking.

When Kuran made no action to taste the soup Zero sat next to him, facing the city, and added, "It's not poisoned."

Kaname's smile widened slightly, a few months back he may have actually been checking for poison, but not now. He took a sip of the soup. It tasted good, but more than anything it brought warmth and restoring energy.

Zero sat quietly while Kaname continued to sip the soup, both oddly at ease in one another's presence, in this place were the steps they took determined their futures, whether they would fall or make their way down into the troubled, filthy, beautiful world, to live another day and to try to find something worth living for.

* * *

><p>The white, marble queen caught the moonlight, her proud figure looming over where the black king rolled on his side. The white king remained undisturbed at his origin.<p>

"I do so enjoy these games between us Cross-san, I will most certainly miss them."

"It is not too late, this doesn't need to happen."

"My how you have changed"

"Not all change is bad."

"Indeed, sometimes things must be changed, Cross-san; I am simply a catalyst."

"What you're planning is more than a simple change, it's genocide."

* * *

><p>AN: Wha! So thank you to everyone who continues to read my story. This took a whole lot longer than anticipated, my apologies. My excuse includes that I did not have internet nor my computer for a while. I will be trying to get the next chapter up a whole lot sooner, though it will be shorter as that seems to be the common consensus. But I am also going to be moving for the next two weeks so please be patient with me. For those of you lovely individuals that take the time to review please comment on the following:

1) What do you want next?

A) more Zero and Kaname time

B) more elaboration on the plot

C) A break from all of the tenseness?

D) Your suggestions are welcome

2) What can I improve on, if you think this story is dragging please be specific on what needs to speed up, do I need less detail, I am spending too much time on the OCs and so on.

Thank YOU all!


	10. The Change-Over

You know that feeling of life grabbing you by your collar, staring you dead on and then exploding in your face. Well yeah, so that is kinda what happened to me. After the recovery period, I have been trying to clean it up, but it's all over the walls and the ceiling, so I will continue to try and post as often as I am able, but trust me, when you get a big glop of life that falls on you from the ceiling, at first you run around shouting "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" and then you calm down and go take a shower, yup… so… how about them run on sentences….

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or its characters.

Warnings: swearing, slightly crackish (but it still makes sense, kinda), and crass humor

* * *

><p><strong>6 months later <strong>

Din, yes that was the word, the word to describe the cacophony of inane chatter, squeals, and proclamations-of-devotion issuing from all of those irritating little fan-girls and boys currently gathered around the gate. Yes, the weekend had come and gone, and the one day of absence from this absurd ritual seemed to have only heightened the fools' anticipation for what lay beyond the gate. Kain found himself shaking his head at those gathered behind him, their jittery energy palpable in the air. Resting his hands in his pockets Kain chanced a glance at his cousin, the one who got him into this mess in the first place.

Aidou stood stiff, eyes narrowed in suspicion, while he scowled, the whole picture making him resemble a paranoid kitten. The odd image made Kain feel slightly better, especially as he recalled how they got into this whole mess.

It all started with the first day he heard Zero yelp…yes, what a day that was…

~Flashback~

It had been about two months after Aidou had come blathering to him about how he witnessed Kaname and Yuuki end their relationship.

Overall, a low-grade agitation had built up in the group; especially with all of the new recruits having the first true touches of thirst after switching over to blood-tablets, with the addition of the pureblood auras riling up a whole bunch of emotions, almost everyone was at their whit's end. And with the air beginning to chill as autumn descended upon them, irritation was even beginning to creep in on everyone's favorite pass-time, class-change-over. There was still plenty of shoving to get to the front of the gates, but now, there was little anticipation, little joy, only desire remained. It had been darkened by the sheer intensity of everyone's need. Yes, it had been the end to those dark days.

Kain could hear some of the day class fangirls chattering about fashion, make-up, dry skin, crushes etc. on the other side of the gates when Aidou grumbled "I mean what's so great about Kiryuu?"

Lightly cuffing Aidou upside the head, Kain had to hold back a smirk at the irony. "Hanabusa, with that scowl, you're seriously starting to resemble Kiryuu."

"Kain, you do your cousin too much credit with such a comment," Sadayo whispered as he passed by without stopping, the crowd parting for him.

Kain watched as Aidou's face flushed and fists clenched at the comment.

"Pay him no mind Aidou-kun," Kawakami's cheerful voice sounded, whose arm now casually rested on Aidou's shoulder, "I mean, he's right, but he shouldn't be so rude about it." Kawakami smiled it Aidou, ruffled his already mussed hair, and took off through the crowd, gracefully weaving past bodies, occasionally tapping someone on the shoulder but disappearing before they noticed who had done so, leaving a small trail of confusion in his wake.

"Despite what you're thinking Aidou, it's not an insult," a melodic feminine voice sounded next to him, "it's simply a statement of fact, you mustn't take it personally." Shiroyama stood between Kain and Aidou, staring after Kawakami, with her usual cool posture of nonchalance and aura not hinting at the slightest of emotions. Kain was briefly captivated, when her eyes flitted up to meet his and then over to Aidou, "even I cannot compare with Kiryuu's beauty; therefore Aidou, I would recommend that you not take objective truth as insult, you are a scientist after all. Vanity should hold no charge with you." With that Shiroyama followed the wake of confusion, her calm easing into others as she passed them.

It was subtle, but somehow the three seemed a bit more cheerful today, perhaps because Kaname was too busy for class change-over today. Kain wasn't quite sure, but there seemed to be some conspiratorial energy between the three that had eased some of the tension.

Then Kain again felt an aura of irritation crash into him and looked over to see Kiyomizu, who had a slight pout to his lips and squint to his eyes. Kiyomizu met his gaze "well don't look at me, I don't know what the hell they are planning, I'm her cousin and she won't even let me in on it."

As the sound of bell's echoed over the noise of the crowd anticipation for the ritual opening of the gates began to thicken the air. And with the creak of the gate hinges the tension snapped, to reveal the hunter himself, a gaggle of girls and boy, and Kioshi, who had been groveling at Zero's feet for the past two months.

As per usual Sadayo's long, elegant strides quickly took him to Zero's side, where a group of girls nearly passed out, Kawakami happily pranced his way over and slung his arm around Zero, which the hunter quickly tried to disengage from, and that's when it happened. Kain wasn't even quiet sure when Shiroyama arrived at the group currently harassing the hunter, but when Zero yelped and quickly tried to squirm away from something Kain noticed that Shiroyama's hand, for all her polite manners, and civilities, was planted firmly on Zero's ass.

Well, as expected the hunter moved away and his hand slid up to his breast-pocket, but there he had to stop, and his scowl deepened, there were too many Day Class students about, Bloody Rose was a no-no. Besides, Zero's brow seemed to wrinkle in confusion as he realized who it was who groped him. Everyone expected such behavior from Sadayo, yes, Kawakami, kinda, but Shiroyama? Maybe she and Sadayo were a good match after all. Kain's eyes looked over to Kiyomizu, and his face was blanched of all color, not that he had much to begin with, as his mouth hung open. Meanwhile, his attention was directed back to the three purebloods.

"So how does it feel?" Sadayo asked Shiroyama with a suggestive quirk to the eyebrow, and Zero's gaze jerked towards him, even as his face flushed a deeper hue of pink, at the moment too mortified to form words.

Shiroyama was looking down at her hand and flexing her fingers as if she was missing something. "Well…" she began, her voice seemed a little lost, then she looked up at Sadayo, "it's hard to describe perfection."

"Try for me dear," Sadayo encouraged. Moving towards Shiroyama and bringing her groping hand up to his check. Kain couldn't help but note, that this was probably the closest Sadayo would ever get to being "cheek-to-cheek" with the hunter, in a manner of speaking.

At that Zero had enough, "That's it, get to…"

But Shiroyama started speaking and Zero seemed to have lost his voice, much to his own great confusion. "It's firm, almost tight, and warm, and has just the right amount of resistance when you press into the flesh of it."

Zero's face was starting to turn a color that could make a flamingo jealous when a familiar aura, one that commanded respect and exuded power, crawled slowly up Kain's vertebrae straightening his spine as it climbed. Kaname approached, and from the feel of it, he was not happy. And just as Kaname was beginning to make his way to the front of the crowd Kain saw Aidou twitch and noticed several heads turned toward a group of girls, which was unusual since Zero was still present. Then Kain noticed it too, blood. Kain looked toward a girl whose eyes seemed slightly glazed and had blood dripping from her nose, her entire face flushed from what she just heard, and she wasn't the only one.

~End Flashback~

Kain would forever fondly remember that day as 'the day Zero's ass almost caused a small massacre'. He snorted slightly, as at the recollection. Anyways, after that Kaname had been furious, the three purebloods got in trouble, turns out the whole thing was Kawakami's idea to try and lighten the mood, but he hadn't thought about the cold weather leading to dry skin and an increase in nosebleeds. He also didn't realize that from then on, the number of Night Class students trying to grope Zero would more than quadruple. And so, Kaname thought it best if the Night Class had a couple prefects of its own, and Aidou had volunteered them.

At first it was a disaster. Kain held up his part, but Aidou, being small had a little bit of difficulty guiding the students, but within two days he, being a genius, had his tactics down. A boy who had dared to shove passed Aidou, only to have his wrist grabbed and arm nearly twisted off by the still peeved hunter, then had his genitalia frozen in a block of ice as soon as he stepped foot in the classroom. When a girl laughed and said it didn't work the same with girls Aidou froze her hair, and that was the end of it. He was actually a surprisingly good prefect.

Kain heard the bell's chime and turned his attention towards the gates. Yes, another fiasco was about to begin.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

I am sorry I have taken forever, and yes this is an incredibly short chapter, and there is not much development, but I do plan on continuing this story; I am determined to finish it, but as I said, life still is falling all over the place, so ... yeah.


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